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Force System with Vertical V-Bends: A 3D In Vitro Assessment of Elastic and Rigid Rectangular Archwires
Published on: July 24, 2018
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Effect of archwire cross-section changes on force levels during complex tooth alignment with conventional and
Mona A Montasser1, Ludger Keilig2, Tarek El-Bialy3
1Associate professor, Orthodontic Department, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Mansoura, Mansoura, Egypt.
Summary
Increasing archwire size significantly boosts tooth-moving forces in orthodontics. Even smaller wires (0.014-in) generate substantial forces, with larger wires (0.016-in) increasing this effect across all bracket types.
Area of Science:
- Orthodontic Biomechanics
- Dental Materials Science
Background:
- Investigating the biomechanical forces during orthodontic treatment is crucial for effective malocclusion correction.
- Understanding the interplay between archwire properties and bracket systems informs clinical decisions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally evaluate how increasing archwire cross-section affects the forces applied to teeth.
- To analyze these effects across various conventional and self-ligating orthodontic bracket systems.
Main Methods:
- A biomechanical setup simulated a displaced maxillary central incisor malocclusion.
- Tested were conventional, passive self-ligating, and active self-ligating brackets with 0.022-in slots.
- Combined with 0.014-in and 0.016-in titanium memory archwires (Therma-Ti).
Main Results:
- Forces ranged from 1.7-5.0 N (0.014-in wire) and 2.6-6.0 N (0.016-in wire) along the x-axis.
- Forces ranged from 1.2-5.5 N (0.014-in wire) and 2.0-6.0 N (0.016-in wire) along the z-axis.
- Force increases ranged from 10.4% to 130.0% with larger archwires.
Conclusions:
- Archwire cross-section increase invariably elevates applied force levels for all tested brackets.
- 0.014-in wires produced relatively high forces, which further increased with 0.016-in wires.
