Arch width, canine position, and mandibular retention

Abstract

The canine-to-canine retainer technique has been used in the construction of an infinite number of such retainers. The chair time required is minimal, for the technique consists merely of making two canine bands and a plaster cast from a sectional compound impression. The construction of the retainer is then done by auxiliary personnel; faster electrical soldering is much preferred over the gas flame or torch in the technic of construction. The actual time involved, which includes band construction, impression taking, pouring and separating the model, adaptation of lingual wire, soldering, finishing, and cementing, takes approximately 90 minutes. On occasion out-of-town patients have waited in the reception room after the bands were made and the impression taken, getting their retainers in approximately that length of time. Riedel 12 summed up the retention problem when he stated: “We realize that stability of the end result is one of the prime objectives of orthodontic treatment, for without stability, neither proper function nor the best in esthetics can be maintained. Our realization must be, then, that retention probably is a problem of treatment dependent upon the occlusion established, that the occlusion established must be within the bounds of normal muscle balance, and that the occlusion and muscle balance established are dependent upon the amount of apical base available and the relationship of the apical bases to one another.” Even though this article deals only with mandibular retention, it does not in any way imply that the retention of the maxillary arch is not of equal importance. The importance of closing all open contacts among the mandibular incisors and the return of the canines to their original widths prior to construction and use of a mandibular retainer should again be emphasized.