Direct bonding applied to space maintenance.

Based on the conditions of this study, the following conclusions were reached: A success rate of 70 percent seems to justify further investigation into direct bonded space maintainers. A space maintainer directly bonded to the buccal surfaces seems to be efficient in maintaining single tooth spaces. Primary-to-primary appliances were more successful than the primary-to-permanent appliances, which suggests that incomplete first permanent molar eruption and a posterior location affect appliance durability.