Corrosion of silver soldered orthodontic wires

The amounts of metals liberated from silver soldered stainless steel and cobalt-chromium orthodontic wires were measured. Measurements were taken after 3 days and 24 days immersion in 0.9% sodium chloride solution. High amounts of copper and zinc and some cadmium from the silver solder were found. The silver soldered stainless steel wire corroded more than the cobalt-chromium type, and liberated more nickel and chromium than did the cobalt-chromium wires.