Tensile bond strength of orthodontic resins on the human tooth surface

Composite resin has been used in the field of orthodontics for more than twenty years. Although there have been many studies and discussions regarding the bond strength of orthodontic brackets to the human tooth surface, a definitive conclusion has not yet been established. In this study, sixty bicuspids extracted from teenagers were employed for testing, in conjunction with 6 different brands of orthodontic resins: Concise, Unitek, Ormco, American, Mono-lok and Right-on. On the buccal surface of the crown, the tensile bond strength for the various resins were tested and recorded. The bond strength was 0.69 kg/mm2 for Concise, 0.64 kg/mm2 for Unitek, 0.58 Kg/mm2 for Ormco, 0.55 kg/mm2 for American, 0.54 kg/mm2 for Mono-log and 0.45 kg/mm2 for Right-on, respectively. The broken surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy, as well as energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry. The broken surfaces were either at interface between the resin and bracket base, at the resin itself, interface between tooth surface and resin or in a combination of them. On the broken surface of the bracket base, components of broken tooth fragments were also detected. The percentage for the frequency of samples of each type of orthodontic resin of broken tooth fragments found was 30% for Concise, 10% for Unitek, 50% for Ormco, 40% for American, 50% for Mono-lok and 80% for Right-on.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)