title: Evaluation of retention protocols among members of the American Association of Orthodontists in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little research has been conducted to evaluate protocols and trends in orthodontic retention. The purpose of this study was to identify the general retention protocols used by orthodontists in the United States. Additionally, our goal was to identify trends in these orthodontic retention protocols by evaluating how they have changed over the past 5 years and how they might continue to change in the next 5 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted via a 36-question electronic survey (REDCap, Nashville, Tenn) with branching logic on certain questions. The survey was sent to all 9143 practicing members of the American Association of Orthodontists in the United States, and 1632 (18%) responded.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mean retention protocols of the surveyed population showed predominant use of Hawley or vacuum-formed retainers in the maxillary arch and fixed retention in the mandibular arch. For both arches, there is a current shift away from Hawley retainers and toward vacuum-formed retainers and fixed retention. Respondents who extract fewer teeth reported increased use of fixed retention in the maxillary (P = 0.041) and mandibular (P = 0.003) arches. Respondents who extract fewer teeth and use removable retainers were more likely to tell their patients to wear their retainers at night for the rest of their lives (P = 1.63 × 10(-6)).
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., USA. mcprat2@uky.edu
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.forename: George Thomas
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Kluemper
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hartsfield
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fardo
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Nash
mesh_terms: D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003724:Dental Arch; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible; D008437:Maxilla; D016382:Orthodontic Appliance Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D018704:Orthodontic Retainers / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D010349:Patient Compliance; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D012953:Societies, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States