Bond failure patterns in vivo.

The aim of this study was to identify the presence and pattern of differences in bond failure between tooth types in vivo when bonding orthodontic brackets with the no-mix orthodontic composite adhesive Right-On. In vivo bond failure for a single operator was recorded for 108 consecutive patients undergoing fixed-appliance orthodontic treatment. The bond failure data were analyzed by survival analysis. Time to first failure or censorship was recorded for each bonded attachment. Overall failure in the sample matched previous clinical studies but conflicted with previous ex vivo bond strength data. Mandibular and posterior teeth had significantly higher rates of failure than did maxillary and anterior teeth. The type of attachment used had a significant effect on bond survival. The results of this study confirm that in vivo bond survival is not uniform for all teeth. Comparisons between the findings of this study and those of a previous ex vivo study by the same authors failed to validate ex vivo bond strength testing as clinically relevant.