A comparative in vitro study of the strength of directly bonded brackets using different curing techniques

The aim of this study was to compare, by shear testing, the bond strengths after 1 and 24 hours of a light-cured resin (Enlight) and a light-cured glass ionomer cement GIC (Fuji Ortho LC) using various polymerization lamps (halogen, high performance halogen, xenon, and diode) for the direct bonding of brackets. The self-curing resin (Concise) was used as the control. The analysis was carried out using the SPSS program. For group comparison purposes, the single factor variance analysis (ANOVA) and the post-hoc test (Tukey's HSD) were used. The level of significance was established at P < 0.05. When comparing two mean values the t-test for independent random samples was employed. All polymerization lamps achieved the minimum bond strength of 5-8 MPa. With Enlight LV, bond strength was dependent on curing time (the halogen lamp achieved the highest bond strength of 10.0 MPa, P < 0.001, with a curing time of 40 seconds. The other lamps showed similar results) and on the mode of cure (the highest bond strength values were achieved by four-sided curing, P= 0.04). Fuji Ortho LC, on the other hand, was independent of the duration of light curing and the type of lamp used. The bond strengths of the resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) were similar to or somewhat higher than those achieved with light-cured composite resin (P = 0.039) when lamps with short polymerization times were used, but were significantly lower (P< 0.001) when compared with the self-curing composite adhesive. After 24 hours, the bond strengths of all adhesives showed a significant increase: Enlight 19 per cent, Fuji Ortho LC 6.6 per cent, Concise 16 per cent. Bond failure occurred for Enlight at the bracket-composite resin adhesive interface in 90 per cent and with Concise in 57 per cent. However, Fuji Ortho LC showed far more cohesive and mixed failures, indicating an improved bond between bracket and cement.