Development of professional recommendations on orthodontic retainers: short version

Retention is the set of means, processes or devices that contribute to maintain the teeth in the position and the arches in the shape given by the treatment as long as possible. Given the heterogeneity of practices, devices used and follow-up modalities, the French Society of Dentofacial Orthopedics (Société Française d'Orthopédie Dento-faciale or SFODF), a scientific society, has proposed Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for orthodontic retention. This article presents the method used to develop the CPG full-text and the guidelines produced.

A review of the literature was carried out after a bibliographic search of databases. The CPG full-text and guidelines were drafted, graded according to the level of evidence, then reread, discussed and validated by the workgroup's experts. A second review by a group of external experts was then carried out before final validation of the CPG for publication.

Of 652 articles selected, 53 met the inclusion criteria and were used to prepare the CPG full-text containing 41 grade C items and 23 expert agreements, constituting 40 guidelines.

There is still no consensus on the choice of materials. The literature remains poor on the functions. Some appliances which are more used in France are poorly documented in the literature.

The CPGs provide recommendations on the factors to consider before using a retainer, the effectiveness of the different devices, their failures and adverse effects, as well as the follow-up procedures.