Bond strengths of three resin systems used with brackets and embedded wire attachments

Orthodontic wire bonded directly to teeth with a resin adhesive system has been used to establish anchor units for procedures in orthodontics as well as for splinting teeth in other disciplines. This procedure can save the cost and time of placing a bracket. In addition, several different resin systems have been used for this procedure as well as for placing brackets. The purpose of this study was to determine the strength of three adhesive systems used to bond orthodontic wires directly to teeth and to compare these values with those found for directly bonded orthodontic brackets. Equal sample sizes of brackets or wires were attached to 240 human teeth with either Concise, Miradept, or Endur in a standardized area of etched enamel. Shear and tensile strengths were measured at 30 minutes and at 48 hours. At 30 minutes brackets were significantly stronger than embedded wires, and Concise was significantly stronger than either of the other resins. However, all significant differences between any of the three resin systems using either bonded brackets or wires disappeared at 48 hours. Whether or not this initial strength difference is clinically significant remains speculative.