Distal Shoe: A Review of Literature

Introduction The deciduous second molar is necessary for guiding the eruption of permanent first molar. Premature loss leads to wide range of implications on the dental arch. The distal shoe space maintainer is an appliance of choice to prevent the implication and act as an eruption guidance for the permanent first molar. Material and Method This is a descriptive study where in the following terms were used to scan Pubmed and Google search distal shoe, premature loss of deciduous molar, eruption guidance, space maintainer. Hand search of non listed peer reviewed articles was also performed. The articles published between 1970 till 2015 in English are included for the review. Of 281 articles 17 articles were selected for the review. Conclusion This descriptive review has shown various designs of distal shoe space maintainers for premature loss of deciduous second molar in a growing child. Most of the designs presented are of single case reports and the longevity of many designs have not been mentioned. Although there are some factors to be considered while selecting the design of this appliance which dictate their advantages and disadvantages. Decisions regarding the use of distal shoe must be decided based on scientific evidence and clinical situation.