Frictional resistance of ceramic, self-ligating and metal brackets with various archwires

TL;DR

This study compares the friction levels of different orthodontic brackets and archwires to determine which combinations offer the most efficient tooth movement.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive comparison of frictional resistance among ceramic, self-ligating, and metal brackets with various archwires.

Findings

Self-ligating brackets showed the lowest frictional resistance.

Ceramic brackets had the highest friction, especially with rectangular NiTi and beta-titanium wires.

Self-ligating systems improve treatment efficiency compared to traditional and ceramic brackets.

Abstract

The bracket-archwire interface friction is one of the factors that influence the efficiency of orthodontic tooth movement and the
total time of treatment. Therefore, it is of interest to compare ceramic, passive self-ligating and conventional metal bracketries in
relation to their frictional characteristics for determing the types of archwires and their sizes with the bracketries. Frictional
forces Frictional forces were measured under standardized conditions using 240 combinations of bracket-archwire through a universal
testing machine. Brackets with the least friction were the self-ligating ones and the brackets with the highest friction were the
ceramic ones, particularly with rectangular NiTi and beta-titanium wires. The self-ligating systems come with the benefit of high
low-friction performance that improves treatment performance on the traditional and ceramic brackets.