Patient Compliance to Wear Orthodontic Retainers During Postretention May Vary by Age, Gender, and Time Since Braces Were Removed

Subjects: During January to July 2008 a questionnaire was mailed to 1085 subjects who had completed comprehensive orthodontic fixed-appliance treatment from 6 months to 6 years following active tooth movement. This yielded 280 responses (25.8% response rate) after 2 mailings, 3 months apart. The respondents ranged in age from 8 to 72 years. Respondents were from various socioeconomic groups and urban or rural environments. Identifiers allowed respondents to be classified into subgroups.

Key Exposure/study Factor: Predictors of compliance among patients/subjects who were provided with removable vacuum-formed retainers (VFRs) or Hawley retainers in the postretention phase of orthodontic treatment.

Main Outcome Measure: The main outcome measure was self-reported compliance with different types of removable orthodontic retainers worn during the postretention phase of treatment.

Main Results: A logistic regression model identified probabilities of retainer wear, including a likelihood ratio to test the model parameters using chi-square statistics to identify significant variables. The model found age, gender, amount of time since braces were removed, type of retainer, and interpretation of compliance in retainer wear to be statistically significant variables. Time on retainer compliance revealed better compliance with VFR than Hawley retainers during the first 2 years after braces were removed, but then compliance increased with Hawley retainers and overall compliance was greater with Hawley retainers.

Conclusions: Compliance with wearing removable retainers was initially better with VFRs but over time was greater with Hawley retainers, and esthetics was not a determinant. Several variables determined compliance, including age, gender, and type of retainer.