The premature loss of baby teeth can cause the alignment of permanent teeth to be crooked.

Baby teeth act as placeholders for a child's permanent teeth.

One of the many important functions that baby teeth perform is serving as placeholders for the permanent teeth that will replace them.

Depending on a child's stage of development, if a baby tooth is lost prematurely and adequate steps are not taken to preserve the space it occupied, problems can develop such as some of the child's permanent teeth being crooked or even impacted.

The premature loss of a baby tooth can cause the alignment of a child's permanent teeth to be crooked.

As an example of how the loss of a single baby tooth can result in the misalignment of a child's permanent teeth, consider the following example describing a situation where a child's second primary molar is lost prematurely.

In normal circumstances, as a child's bicuspid forms and erupts underneath their primary second molar the presence this tooth will cause the root of the primary molar to resorb (dissolve away).

This process creates an eruption path for the bicuspid which, in turn, helps to guide it into its proper positioning. Also, because the primary second molar is retained in place until the last stages of the eruption process, its presence acts as a stabilizer that holds the child's permanent first molar in place (the permanent tooth positioned just behind the primary second molar).

In comparison, when a child's second primary molar is lost at an early stage of dental development its stabilizing influence will be absent. Because of this, the child's permanent first molar will begin to migrate forward into the available space. The net result can be that there will not be adequate space into which the bicuspid can erupt. As a worst case scenario, the bicuspid may become impacted (prevented from even penetrating through the gum tissue).

A space maintainer can hold the space normally occupied by a baby tooth.

In those cases where the loss of a primary tooth cannot be avoided and the child is at a stage of development where their dentist feels that it is important that the resulting space must be preserved, a "space maintainer" can be placed. This simple device is cemented into place on one tooth lying at one end of the space being protected. The space maintainer is designed with a wire extension that rests against the tooth found at the other end of the space.

As long as the space maintainer is in place the neighboring teeth cannot drift into area formerly occupied by the baby tooth. This means that the permanent tooth will be able to erupt in normal fashion. The simple step of making use of a space maintainer can help to avoid the need for major corrective treatment (such as braces) later on. A space maintainer is usually removed as soon as the erupting permanent tooth begins to penetrate through the gums.