The use of a resin-bonded denture to replace primary incisors: case report.

The most frequent causes of anterior primary tooth loss among preschool children are caries (nursing caries), traumatic injuries, and diseases presenting absence of teeth as a clinical characteristic. Premature loss of primary incisors usually does not require the placement appliances for space maintenance because no mesial movement of the adjacent teeth is normally expected when the canines have already erupted. However, replacement of anterior teeth may be indicated for esthetic purposes or possibly to facilitate normal pronounciation. The treatment options in these cases are removable maintainers of space or fixed partial dentures, the former being most often used. When there is no cooperation on the part of the patient for their use or when the devices provoke discomfort or atypical deglutition, fixed partial dentures may be used, taking into consideration premaxillary growth. Based on the idea of resin-bonded dentures prepared for adult patients, this system has been used for children with edentulous areas of small extension with unrestored non-carious abutment teeth or teeth having small restorations. A resin-bonded denture with a nonrigid connector in the median palatine suture has the advantage of not requiring periodic changes, since this system permits normal premaxillary development. The objective of the present report was to describe the preparation of resin-bonded denture with a nonrigid connector for a children with loss of central primary incisors.