Speech Assessment after Use of Vacuum Formed Retainers vs. Conventional Hawley Retainer

Although many types of retainers are available, the Hawley retainer and the vacuum-formed retainer are the most commonly used clinical retainers.
Aim: To evaluate and compare the effects of Hawley retainer and vacuum formed retainer on frequency of vowels and consonants over a period of time.
Methodology: 30 subjects were included in this study. The subjects were divided in groups of the Hawley’s retainer (Group 1) and vacuum formed retainer group(group 2).The articulation abilities of subjects were evaluated before and after the initiation of retainer wear.
Results: Articulation of /d/and /t/ is most affected in VFR group while /t/ and /m/ were the most affected by wearing of Hawley’s retainer.
Conclusion: Patients experience articulation problems when wearing retainers initially, but these problems gradually decrease such that on the seventh day of appliance wear, disarticulation problems mostly disappear completely. Both VFR and Hawley’s retainer affected the speech. The /t/ was most affected in both group but Hawley’s retainer affected the most.