Patient Compliance with Removable Orthodontic Retainers During Retention Phase: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACTBackground/Objective Patient compliance post orthodontic treatment is one of the most common factors that affect long-term success in alignment and occlusal positioning of teeth. The use of removable orthodontic retainers and the monitoring of its use are essential to assess the collaboration of the patient. The aim of this systematic review is to assess different factors that may influence patient compliance and possible interventions for enhancing post-treatment compliance of removable retainers.Study Design The author searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify original articles from incipient to May 2022 containing keywords for patient compliance with removable orthodontic retainer during retention phase. Prospective and retrospective studies, including observational, cross-sectional, randomized, and non-randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies, were reviewed. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The risk of bias was assessed in studies selected for full-text review.Results The search strategy yielded 842 publications. After initial screening and application of exclusion criteria, 12 studies were included for final review.Conclusions Significant differences in patient compliance with removable orthodontic retainers were observed in the following factors: type of removable retainer, parental intervention, age of the patient, location of treatment, and the use of text message reminder. No significant difference in compliance was observed in gender. The overall risk of bias among studies was moderate. There are insufficient high-quality randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to provide additional evidence, and further research is needed.