Periodontal health and compliance: A comparison between Essix and Hawley retainers

Effectiveness of different cleaning agents for retainers

“…There are many terms referring to the invisible retainer such as vacuum-formed retainer, thermoplastic retainer, clear overlay retainer (Mai et al, 2014). Vacuum-formed retainers are made of polypropylene or polyvinylchloride material (Manzon, Fratto, Rossi, & Buccheri, 2018). In this research, the term thermoplastic retainer will be used.…”

“…This makes retainer maintenance even more important for patients wearing thermoplastic retainer. Previous published journal hypothesized that the irregular inner surface of the thermoplastic retainer makes cleaning more difficult and may favor more bacterial adherence as compared to Hawley retainer (Manzon et al, 2018).…”

“…Retainers in place intraorally reduces the physical cleaning effect of saliva and this predisposes patients to plaque accumulation, enamel demineralization and caries (Manzon et al, 2018). Enamel demineralization will progress to become white spot lesions (Ko-Adams et al, 2020).…”

The Behavior of Two Types of Upper Removable Retainers—Our Clinical Experience

“…The omission of the retention phase has as consequence the relapse, the tendency for the initial malocclusion to reappear [ 2 , 3 ]. Relapse may occur due to imbalances in the gingival fibers, periodontal tissues, occlusion, or facial soft tissues [ 4 , 5 ]. Unwanted changes may also occur after the removal of the orthodontic fixed appliance (at the end of the active phase of orthodontic treatment) in growing patients, due to unfavorable growth trends.…”

“…Frequently, the thicknesses of VFRs are 0.75 mm (0.30 inch) or 1 mm (0.40 inch) [ 19 , 20 ]. Over the last decades, many studies have been published on the effectiveness, advantages, disadvantages of retainers, patient comfort (patient satisfaction, accommodation period, compliance, speech, mastication) [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], periodontal health [ 5 ], and the costs involved in the retention stage [ 8 ], but all these studies revealed much controversy about the risks of relapse.…”