title: Assessment of Factors Affecting Adolescent Patients' Compliance with Hawley and Vacuum Formed Retainers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Success of orthodontic retention with removable retainers almost entirely depends on patients' compliance.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between adolescent orthodontic patients' compliance and various clinical and social factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were collected from 77 orthodontic patients aged 7-11 years old who had finished the full fixed appliance therapy. Hawley's retainers were used in 34 patients and 43 patients used Vacuum Formed Retainers (VFRs). The subjects completed a questionnaire including several identifiers allowing the respondents to be classified into subgroups. They were also asked to indicate how long they wore their retainers during the day, by writing the number of hours in the report-card for the next three months. Comparison of the results was performed by one-way ANOVA and independent sample-t tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were found between males and females. Type of the retainer, patients' grade of study, mothers' occupation, clinicians' and parents' attitudes and filling the report cards had significant effect on mean wear hours per day. When compliance of the patients was assessed according to treatment location, Living place, parents' educational degrees and ethnicity, no significant differences could be found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The adolescent patients' compliance was greater with VFRs than with Hawley's retainers. Parental attitude and doctor-patient relationship had a great impact on adolescent patients' compliance.
authors: Associate Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz, Iran .
authors: Behnam
authors: B
authors: Mirzakouchaki
authors: Lecturer and Academic Member, Dental and Periodontal Research Centre, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz, Iran .
authors: Sajjad
authors: S
authors: Shirazi
authors: Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Dental Caries Prevention Research Centre, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences , Qazvin, Iran .
authors: Reza
authors: R
authors: Sharghi
authors: Undergraduate Student, Student Research Committe, Faculty of Paramedicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Tabriz, Iran .
authors: Samaneh
authors: S
authors: Shirazi
keywords: Orthodontic appliances; Patient cooperation; Questionnaires; Removable