Influence of physical and social factors on compliance with removable orthodontic appliances

The relevance of the problem and aim of the work– patients treated with removable orthodontic appliances do not wear them all of the required time for the treatment to be effective. The aim of this study – to investigate the influence of physical and social factors on patient compliance with removable orthodontic appliances. Material and the methods: a questionnaire survey was conducted of patients wearing removable orthodontic appliances. The survey was carried out in Kaunas Clinics, the Clinic of Orthodontics. The questionnaire was comprised of 21 closed form questions. Statistical analysis was performed by “Microsoft Excel Worksheet” and “IBM SPSS Statistics 25” software programs. Statistical differences between the groups of respondents were calculated using the t-test for two independent means and chi-square test of independence. Results: 92% of the questionnaires were filled in. The average wearing time of removable orthodontic appliances was 81,1% of the required wear time. For 52% of patients the most frequent reason for not wearing the appliance was forgetfulness. 33% of girls and 60% of boys did not feel any discomfort or pain while wearing the appliance. Due to the pain and discomfort 60% of girls and 38% of boys did not wear the appliance. 59% of patients who began the treatment due to poor aesthetics of their crooked teeth were unsatisfied with the aesthetics of the appliance and 41% of them did not wear the appliance due to poor aesthetics. Very motivated patients wore their appliances 87% of the required time while poorly and unmotivated patients wore their appliances for 70% of the required time. Conclusions: The most common reason for not wearing the appliance is forgetfulness. Girls more often do not wear their appliance due to the pain and discomfort. Patients unsatisfied with their crooked teeth more often do not wear the appliance because of it‘s poor aesthetics. Motivation is the most important factor in patient compliance with removable orthodontic appliances