Systematic review of self-ligating brackets.

Orthodontic tooth movement can be regarded as teeth sliding on a wire like pearls on a string, the force being supplied by springs or elastics. The movement implies friction between wire and bracket, taking up part of the force and leaving an uncontrolled amount to act on the teeth. The friction is likely to depend on bracket construction and wire material. Therefore, in this investigation the friction of self-ligating brackets and beta-titanium wires was evaluated, as opposed to more conventional configurations.

Carried by low-friction linear ball bearings, a bracket was made to slide along an out-stretched archwire with minimal (and known) basic friction, either parallel or at an angle to the wire. Two self-ligating brackets we reused in their closed position without any normal force. Friction was tested against four wires: stainless steel and beta-titanium, both in round and rectangular cross-sections. The force used to overcome friction and to move the bracket was measured on a testing machine at 10 mm/min, and the basic friction was subtracted.

The results show that round wires had a lower friction than rectangular wires, the beta-titanium wires had a markedly higher friction than stainless steel wires, and friction increased with angulation for all bracket/wire combinations. The self-ligating brackets had a markedly lower friction than conventional brackets at all angulations, and self-ligating brackets, closed by the capping of a conventional design, exhibited a significantly lower friction than self-ligating brackets closed by a spring.

The selection of bracket design, wire material, and wire cross-section significantly influences the forces acting in a continuous arch system.

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Frictional forces related to self-ligating brackets

Self-ligating vs conventional brackets in the treatment of mandibular crowding: a prospective clinical trial of treatment duration and dental effects.

Efficiency of treatment mechanics has been a major focus throughout the history of orthodontics. Self-ligating brackets were developed on the premise that elimination of ligature ties creates a friction-free environment and allows for better sliding mechanics. It is expected that the self-ligating bracket will reduce the treatment time. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of Damon self-ligating (SL) brackets to those brackets ligated with either steel ligatures or elastomeric 'O' rings. Not only treatment time and the number of appointments needed were addressed, but the quality of the treatment outcome was also assessed. American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) grading criteria for models and panoramic radiographs were employed. Additionally, a nine-question survey was sent to the 215-patients in this study (108 Damon, 107 conventionally-ligated) to elicit their perceptions of how their orthodontic treatment progressed and finished. The results showed that patients treated with Damon SL brackets had significantly lower treatment times, required significantly fewer appointments, and had significantly higher ABO scores than those treated with conventionally-ligated edgewise brackets. There were no significant differences in Damon or non-Damon ABO scores with respect to gender. Damon patients over the age of 21 had significantly higher ABO scores. Conversely, the non-Damon patients under the age of 21 had significantly higher ABO scores. For pre-treatment Angle classification, no significant differences were noted. Patient responses showed that Damon patients perceived their treatment time as being shorter than expected. It appears that faster orthodontic treatment can be better as measured by the ABO criteria.

https://www.hambaarst.ee/share/file/damon_1.pdf

Treatment time, outcome, and patient satisfaction comparisons of Damon and conventional brackets

http://www-2.unipv.it/compmech/publications/2003_3.pdf

Prasanna K. Shivapuja

Papers

A comparative study of conventional ligation and self-ligation bracket systems

The evaluation of dual cement resins in orthodontic bonding

Pulpal response in electrothermal debonding.