Rapid curing of bonding composite with a xenon plasma arc light

The use of light-cured orthodontic adhesives is an increasingly popular method for the bonding of orthodontic brackets. However, one of the disadvantages of light-cured adhesives is their long curing times. The xenon plasma arc curing light is purported to dramatically reduce the required curing time. The purpose of this study was to test the efficiency of a xenon plasma arc light versus a conventional tungsten-quartz halogen light in producing effective bond strengths for orthodontic brackets. Standardized brackets were bonded to bovine enamel with 3 different orthodontic bonding materials. The bonding materials were exposed to the tungsten-quartz halogen light for 40 seconds and to the xenon light for 3, 6, and 9 seconds. Bond strength was tested 30 minutes and 24 hours after light-curing. The results showed that bond strength with the application of the xenon light was greater with longer exposures. There were no statistically significant differences between the bond strengths of the brackets exposed to the tungsten-quartz halogen light for 40 seconds and those exposed to the xenon light for 3, 6, or 9 seconds. However, xenon light exposures of 6 or 9 seconds were required to create bond strengths equal to those produced by the tungsten-quartz halogen light. The xenon light produced equivalent bond strengths at very short light exposures.