EZ Space Maintainer White Paper
EZ Space Maintainer White Paper
EZ Space Maintainer White Paper
EZ Space Maintainer
1 7 4 0 1 C o m m e r c e P a r k B l v d , T a m p a , F L 3 3 6 4 7 U S A
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However since they are becoming more frequently used by dentists, all kinds of maintainers
should be fabricated more simply and easier to place in the space maintained area.
Different fixed and bonded space maintainers have been created using round wires, stainless
steel strips and light polymerizing composites. (8,9,11-13).
Clinical Evaluation
A few studies about direct bonded space maintainers were done in past years. But standardized
and repeatable type direct bonded space maintainers were not used in these studies. For this
reason a new direct bonded space maintainer was studied and evaluated clinically by Gulec S.
(14). Conventional space maintainers were evaluated by Baroni et all. (15) and Rajab (16). They
have reported median survival time for space maintainers as 20 and 18 months, respectively. The
reported survival time for space maintainers were ranging between 5 months to 27 months (9,1 3,
16, 17). In the study done by Gulec S., space maintainers were followed-up for 20 months and
EZ Space Maintainer had presented 220 days (approximately 7 months) mean survival time.
This result shows that the EZ Space Maintainer has a satisfactory survival time. The failure rate
of the EZ Space Maintainer at the end of the six months was clearly low (4.8%) when compared
with the results of direct bonded space maintainers studies that performed by Swaine and Wright
(9) (30%), by Artun and Marstrander (8) (19%) and by Santos et al. (13) (8.3%). Age was found to
be a risk factor for the EZ Space Maintainer. None of the maintainers failed in children over age
8. All failures were observed in children under age 8 and this result can be contributed to the
moisture contamination which was not easy to prevent for children in this group (14).
Improvements in adhesive systems affected the orthodontic appliances and the space
maintainers. Adhesives are the backbone of direct bonded space maintainer studies. However,
adhesives are not the only factor in determining the success of the direct bonded space
maintainers. The design of the space maintainers is important for toleration of occlusal forces and
retention of the abutment teeth. Previous direct bonded space maintainers were designed with
plain wires that had loops or grooves for bonding. EZ Space Maintainer was designed for
loading minimal occlusal forces independent of the appliance length. The pads could facilitate
bonding with resin cement. This property was a critical factor for the success rate. In the study
conducted by Gulec (14) of the adhesive failures, five of five occurred between enamel and
adhesive resin. No adhesive resin loss was seen. In other words, failures did not occur between
the appliance and the adhesive. This result proves that the mesh bonding bases of the appliance
provide sufficient retention against the occlusal forces (14).
In the same study, following the SOHI norms, all patients showed acceptable oral hygiene
practices. The first 7 days after the bonding of the appliance were the most important time
intervals for the patients adaptation and oral hygiene education.
Space analyses were also made by the same group, according to the method presented by
Swaine and Wright (9). They also found that the extraction spaces were maintained successfully
by the EZ Space Maintainer. As a result, they declared that the main advantages of the EZ
Space Maintainer are saving time and ease of use.
Conclusion
We can conclude that Dr. Grays EZ Space Maintainer is more cost-effective and less timeconsuming than traditional space maintainer appliances. This simple, reliable, and practical space
maintainer requires no impressions, no laboratory construction, and can be directly bonded
during one in-office visit. The EZ Space Maintainer is more aesthetic and hygienic than
traditional space maintainer appliances. Simple and easy to use, the EZ Space Maintainer can
be preferred as a fixed appliance providing easy maintenance of the mesio-distal dimension of
any lost deciduous teeth.
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