A prospective clinical evaluation of fixed retainer failures

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the failure rate of fixed lingual retainers and to determine the distribution of these failures over a 6-month period. Materials and Method: One hundred and fifty consecutively treated patients (92 females and 58 males, mean age of 14.89±1.08 years) who received canine-to-canine fixed lingual retainers after active orthodontic treatment were followed up for 6 months. A 0.0215-inch five-stranded wire (PentaOne, Masel Orthodontics) was bonded to the teeth using Transbond LR (3M Unitek) adhesive. The patients were examined in the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months after retention. The retainer failures during the 6-month observation period were registered, and statistically analyzed using a Cochran’s Q test at a significance level of p<0.05. Results: Retainer failures were seen in 14 patients, and the total failure rate was 9.3%. The highest failure rate was seen in the first month (p<0.05). The female patients exhibited a higher failure rate than the male patients (p<0.05), and three patients had repeated failures. The failure rate was higher in the mandible when compared with the maxilla (p<0.05), and in the right quadrant for both the maxilla and the mandible. The total survival rate was 90.7%. Conclusion: The result of this study revealed that higher number of failures occurred in the first month of fixed retention. Therefore, regular clinical controls are necessary to determine bonding failures.

Keywords

• Orthodontic retainers
• Relapse
• Survival rate