Band and loop is the name for a common, simple type of space maintainer.

In kid words

"A band and loop is a tiny metal ring that fits around one tooth, holding a little loop of wire that keeps a gap open for the grown-up tooth still on its way." It does not hurt to wear, and it is not there forever, just until the new tooth is ready to take its own spot.

The parent version

Band and loop describes one of the more common designs of space maintainer, an appliance used when a baby tooth is lost long before the permanent tooth waiting beneath it is due. A metal band fits around a neighboring tooth for anchorage, holding a wire loop that rests in the gap. A band and loop's whole purpose is holding that gap at its correct width, so nothing shifts into space that belongs to the tooth still coming.

Whether one fits a particular situation depends on which tooth was lost and how much time is left before its replacement is due, details that vary from child to child. That call is one to work out with your pediatric dentist.

Where you might hear it at our office

A band and loop tends to come up on the heels of an early tooth loss, the kind of appliance discussion that follows naturally from the options on our restorative dentistry page when a tooth cannot be saved. Your pediatric dentist decides whether one fits your child's situation after seeing exactly which tooth is gone and what is happening underneath.

Any other word your child brought home is worth asking about too, with plenty more entries in the Kids' Dental Dictionary.

Related words

Space maintainer. Distal shoe. Molar.