Bending stiffness of two aesthetic orthodontic archwires: an in vitro comparative study

The aims of the study were to quantify the transverse stiffness of two aesthetic orthodontic archwires (0018 inch Teflon-coated stainless steel and 0017 inch Optiflex) in a simulated clinical setting and to assess the influence of deflection direction on the bending stiffness. The aesthetic archwires were randomly divided into three equal groups: group 1, lingual deflection; group 2, labial deflection; and group 3, occlusal deflection. Each group consisted of six archwires of the same type. The control group consisting of eighteen 0014 inch stainless steel archwires were also subjected to the same grouping. A total of 54 archwires were tested in the study. The deflection of the archwires was measured with a travelling microscope and the load measured with a calibrated strain gauge ring transducer. The mean stiffnesses of the archwires in the lingual, labial and occlusal deflection groups were found to be 29, 08 and 25 mN/mm respectively for 0017 inch Optiflex (r = 09, P less than 0001), 132, 105 and 245 mN/mm respectively for 0018 inch Teflon-coated stainless steel (r = 09, P less than 0001) and 266, 164 and 323 mN/mm respectively for the control (r = 09, P less than 0001). Springback was found to be poor for Optiflex and the archwire remained bent upon deactivation. ANOVA showed that the influence of arch curvature on the bending stiffness was significantly different for Optiflex (P less than 005), Teflon-coated stainless steel (P less than 0005) and the control group (P <0005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)