[Hardened anodized aluminum as a replacement material for bracket manufacture]

Attention has been repeatedly drawn to the problem of corrosion and the risk of allergic reaction to nickel resulting from the use of stainless steel brackets. In the search for a suitable alternative, manufacturers have turned to thin coating technology using hardened anodized aluminium. Applying resistance to corrosion and abrasion as the criteria to be met, they have selected aluminium alloy type 6082 as the material of choice. Purpose of this study is to examine the physical suitability of this material. Using the above noted alloy, 60 prototype brackets were made with a hardened anodized surface. They were then subjected to the following 3 stress tests: first an abrasion test using a tooth polishing machine, second, a deformation test using a device designed to simulate torque movement, and, third, a corrosion test. The effects on the brackets resulting from the three types of stress were evaluated by light microscopy. A quantitative analysis of the corrosion test was performed by ICP spectrometry. The control group consisted of conventional stainless steel brackets. The light microscopic analysis revealed no evidence of surface damage or signs of deformation in the prototype brackets. The steel brackets, on the other hand, showed clear signs of wear and corrosion. The quantitative analysis of the corrosion solution revealed metallic ion wear of 1.75 ng x mm-2 x h-1 for the prototypes subjected to abrasion. The steel brackets showed at a factor of around 104.6 metallic ion wear of 183 ng x mm-2 x h-1. In addition to this, no Ni ions were found in the corrosion solution of the prototype brackets.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)