Dental implants for growing children

Traumatic tooth loss or congenital missing is frequently encountered in children. Removable prosthesis is often the treatment of choice but it may lead to increased caries, residual alveolar resorption and periodontal problems. The implant benefits in retention, stability, esthetic, and mastication have been proved. The concerns about implants placement for the patients in this age are related to jaw growth. The aim of this paper was to review the growth of the jaws and determination of skeletal maturity and to discuss the indications for placement of implant in a growing child, which are based on not only growth but also the numbers and locations of the missing teeth in each jaw. The literature review was performed through, Science direct, Blackwell Synergy, Embase, Pubmed and Scholar Google for the references published between1970-2008. Also, the related English references were taken into consideration.