Crystal bonding--an adhesive system with a future?

The primary objective of this investigation was to evaluate the crystal bonding technique and to: (1) study the effect on crystal size, coverage, and morphology of altering the concentration of lithium sulphate in a crystal growth solution; (2) investigate the potential for reattachment of brackets, following the use of the crystal growth technique; (3) assess the deterioration of the crystal growth conditioning solution with time; (4) investigate the influence of polyacrylic acid enamel pretreatment on the bond strength subsequently achieved with the crystal growth technique; and (5) confirm that the use of crystal growth solutions to attach orthodontic brackets, results in minimal enamel surface change on debond when compared to the acid etch technique. The results of the study suggest that altering the lithium sulphate concentration of the crystal growth solution results in little alteration in the size, morphology, and coverage of crystal produced. The crystal growth technique allows reattachment of orthodontic brackets with no obvious deterioration in bond strength and the crystal growth solution shows little deterioration in performance after storage for 2 years. However, the hope that the use of the crystal growth technique might be a routine and valid alternative to the acid etch technique could not be confirmed.