TY - JOUR T1 - A Survey of Oral Hygienists Regarding Orthodontic Patients and Cooperating with an Orthodontists A1 - Greta Sakaliene A1 - Alvyda Zaroviene JF - Annals of Dental Specialty JO - Ann Dent Spec SN - 2347-2022 Y1 - 2023 VL - 11 IS - 2 DO - 10.51847/fHfNOWlBqS SP - 70 EP - 75 N2 - This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of oral hygienists working with orthodontic patients and cooperating with orthodontists. In February 2022, members of the Lithuanian oral hygienist society were invited to participate in a 37-question survey. The questionnaire was organized into eight sections representing specific information about the socio-demographic status of the respondents, cooperation with the orthodontist, individual oral hygiene products, patient education, professional oral hygiene, clinical situations, and knowledge. Two hundred and thirty fully completed questionnaires were returned. The mean of the dental hygienists' work experience was 5.28 years. 47% of the respondents answered that white spot lesions (WSL) occurred after the removal of braces, 48.7% answered that WSL did occur, but rarely, and 4.3% answered that they did not notice WSL. Work experience had no significant association (p=0,088) with WSL after braces removal. If a fixed retainer came off of several teeth, 1.7% of oral hygienists would do nothing, 2.2% would remove the wire, and 90.9% would send patients to their orthodontist. 32.2 % of oral hygienists who worked with an orthodontist were more likely to fix detached lingual retention wire (p=0.03), and 24.6% often referred to the orthodontist (p UR - https://annalsofdentalspecialty.net.in/article/a-survey-of-oral-hygienists-regarding-orthodontic-patients-and-cooperating-with-an-orthodontists-u8uzgqdn4kthlxl ER -