A Frictional Evaluation of a New Surface-Modified Titanium Orthodontic Bracket

Abstract

Sliding mechanics is a popular method of moving teeth orthodontically. Sliding mechanics refers to the guiding of a tooth by means of the bracket slot along an archwire in response to some applied force. This concept of tooth movement is subject to both static and kinetic friction. An accurate evaluation of an appliance's frictional properties enables a clinician to identify applications where the utilization of a new appliance may be advantageous. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frictional properties of this new surface-modified titanium orthodontic bracket compared with a traditional stainless steel orthodontic bracket and a currently available non-surface modified titanium bracket. Fifteen brackets (5 Stainless steel, 5 Titanium, 5 Coated Titanium) were combined with five archwires from each material type (SS, NiTi, βTi). Frictional evaluation was completed on each bracket material utilizing .021" x .028" size archwire materials in a specially designed apparatus under wet conditions. The frictional resistance was measured on an Instron Universal Testing machine (Instron Corp, Canton, Mass). The brackets/archwire samples were tested one at a time individually. In addition, a single bracket/ archwire sample from each group was repeatedly tested five times. Measurements were made at every 0.1mm for 30mm via a computer attached to the testing machine. An ANOV A was used to determine differences between groups. The results indicate that stainless steel brackets exhibited significantly better static and kinetic frictional properties than the titanium brackets. Stainless steel wires possessed superior frictional properties to NiTi and β-Ti wires. NiTi wires were generally superior than β-Ti wires. As brackets and archwires were reused, the overall frictional values showed a distinct trend to increase.