title: Wearing times of orthodontic devices as measured by the TheraMon® microsensor.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective measurement of wearing times, a task attempted for decades without success, is examined for the first time in a clinical study using the newly-developed TheraMon® system.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prototype of the new TheraMon® sensor was embedded in the acrylic of various removable orthodontic devices worn by a group of 20 patients and assessed over a 5-month treatment period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Daily wearing times (hours) were recorded every day throughout the treatment period by means of a wearing-time graph printed out from a computer by the TheraMon® system. In an additional analysis, the length of time the device was worn on each date, as well as any relevant temperature deviations, were also determined. Using a representative sample, we assessed the time during which a 10-year-old patient had worn his upper plate over a 5-month period in relation to treatment progression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The objective measurement of wearing times, in the sense of a patient's "electronic intensive care", may lead to a paradigm shift in how wearing times are prescribed, thus contributing to better patient compliance.
authors.affiliation: Poliklinik für Kieferorthopädie, Zentrum für Zahn-, Mund- und Kieferheilkunde, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Osianderstr. 2-8, 72076, Tübingen, Germany. timm.schott@med.uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Timm Cornelius
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Schott
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Göz
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008904:Miniaturization; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009968:Orthodontic Appliances, Removable / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D014159:Transducers