Effects of a flash-free system on dental plaque accumulation and bonding-debonding process: A clinical study

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of a flash-free (FF) System on (1) the amount of plaque accumulation around the braces on buccal surfaces of the teeth, (2) the time required for the placement of brackets, including the clean-up of the flash, (3) the amount of adhesive left on the tooth after debonding, and (4) time required for adhesive remnant clean-up.

Thirty-six patients (aged 19.96 ± 5.74 years) were randomly distributed to receive adhesive precoat (APC)-FF and APC-Plus ceramic brackets on the maxillary right or left anterior 6 teeth. Bonding and debonding time were measured per segment in milliseconds. A plaque revealer agent was applied to discolor the dental plaque, and a modified plaque accumulation index was used to evaluate the amount of plaque at 2 different time points. An adhesive residue index was used after the debonding.

The mean bonding times were 138.87 seconds (8332.47 milliseconds) and 77.82 seconds (4669.31 milliseconds) for APC-Plus and APC-FF, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P ≤0.001). The difference between the mean debonding times was not statistically significant. A significant difference was found between the adhesive residue index scores of the 2 systems (P ≤0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between plaque accumulation scores at first- and second-time points for both adhesive systems. APC-Plus score (0.94 ± 0.98) was higher than the APC-FF score (0.50 ± 0.91) on the incisal side at the second time point (P ≤0.05).

FF adhesives can be a good alternative to reduce chair time in bonding appointments.