Space Maintainers 
Primary teeth, sometimes called baby teeth, provide a few very important roles. One of those is to hold space for and guide the eruption of permanent teeth that will replace them one day. Unfortunately there are times when a primary tooth has to be extracted earlier than normal because of tooth decay, infection, or for orthodontic reasons. Quite often it is indicated to then place a space-maintainer in order to preserve enough room for the permanent tooth that will one day fill that space. Space maintainers are metal appliances that are cemented into the patients mouth. These appliances do not require any special care, they can be brushed like normal and checked by the Dentist at the patients routine check up. In some cases they will fall out when the tooth they are cemented to falls out and in some cases they will need to be removed by the Dentist at an appropriate time in the future.