Caries incidence in lower anterior teeth bonded with fixed orthodontic retainer

Purpose of the study

To evaluate the incidence of carious lesions along the lower fixed retainer wire placed after orthodontic treatment both clinically and radiographically.

Methodology

Seventy participants contributed in this study. The experimental group consisted of forty participants (20 males and 20 females with a mean age of 23.4 years and 24.4 years, respectively) bonded with lower fixed retainer for a period ranging from one to six years. The retainers were immediately placed after orthodontic treatment from right canine to left canine, while the control group consisted of 30 participants (15 males with a mean age of 24.6 years, and 15 females’ mean age were 26.8 years). All participants’ lower anterior teeth from 3 to 3 were examined separately clinically and radiographically. Examiners filled a questionnaire concerning patient’s oral hygiene, dietary habits, as well as, frequency of fixed retainer detachment in the experimental group.

Results

Out of the 240 bonded teeth that had been examined clinically and radiographically, only 17 teeth had shown carious lesions. Results in both experimental and control group showed insignificant caries incidence (P > 0.05). When both genders were compared, males had three times higher caries incidence than females in the experimental group with insignificant difference between both (P > 0.05). Central and lateral incisors in the experimental group had higher caries frequency (37.5%) than canines (25%), 20% of the experimental group experienced retainer detachment. Oral hygiene status evaluation showed significant difference (P < 0.05) between the experimental and control groups, the percentage of good oral hygiene for both was 61.8% and 20.0%, respectively. Moreover, there was slight significant difference among both regarding the frequency of scaling and prophylactic measures.

Conclusions

Our data showed low caries risk and no apparent damage to the teeth bonded with fixed retainer. Oral hygiene evaluation showed that the experimental group had better oral hygiene than the control indicating that good oral hygiene can be maintained regardless of the presence of fixed retainer.