An ex vivo investigation into the bond strength of orthodontic brackets and adhesive systems.

The aim of this study was to compare the shear bond strength of Adhesive Precoated Brackets (APC) with that of two types of uncoated bracket bases, Straight-Wire and Dyna-Lock. Two types of orthodontic adhesives were used, Transbond XT and Right-On. Three different curing times were evaluated with the APC brackets in order to find the best. Adhesive remnants on the enamel surface following debond were evaluated using the Adhesive Remnant Index (Artun and Bergland, 1984). Bond strengths ranged from 11.00 to 22.08 MPa. For both types of brackets Transbond produced a significant increase in bond strength compared to Right-On. The Dyna-Lock/Right-On combination produced the poorest results. APC brackets cured for 40 s had similar bond strengths to uncoated brackets fixed by means of Transbond. Overall, 79 per cent of specimens had less than half the tooth surface covered with adhesive following debond. Significantly more adhesive remained on tooth surfaces following debond of the Straight-Wire/Right-On group than any other bracket/adhesive combination. Bond strengths were higher with light-cured Transbond than with chemically-cured Right-On. When Transbond is used in association with APC brackets a 40-second cure time is recommended.