Mandibular dental arch dimensional changes following prematurely lost deciduous molars

Abstract

Background: The aimof the study wasto evaluate the changes in the mandibular dental arch width and lengthafter the unilateral premature loss of deciduous molars at the mixed dentition stage.Methods: The sample consist of (50) Iraqi children aged (8-9) years with unilateral prematurely extractedmandibular first or second deciduous molars, each child have a dental study models prepared by taking alginatehydrocolloid impressions,then the measurement were done on the Auto sketch program after scanning of theocclusal surface of the study casts.Results: reveals that in case of unilateral premature Loss of mandibularprimary molars at the mixed dentitionstage lead to changes in most of the vertical and horizontal distances of the dental arch.Conclusion: the findings of the present study indicate us the importance of space maintainer construction followingthe premature loss of mandibular primarymolars at the mixed dentition stage.