An in vitro study simulating effects of daily diet and patient elastic band change compliance on orthodontic latex elastics.

This project investigated the effects of food exposure and patient compliance with elastic-band change on the degradation of forces in 3/16-inch, medium-wall, latex elastic bands during a simulated day of clinical wear. Six levels of daily diet/patient compliance were chosen as representative of orthodontic patients and a quasicontrol group. The groups differed with respect to how much exposure to artificial saliva and foodstuffs they experienced. After exposure in mild tension to daily diets and based on compliance with instructions about changing orthodontic elastics, the elastics were tested in tensile mode by stretching to 25 mm, where the load was recorded in newtons. The bands of three manufacturers, Rocky Mountain Orthodontics (RMO), 3M Unitek (UNO), and American Orthodontics (AMO), were examined, with 10 bands per group, per manufacturer, forming a cohort. Two-way analysis of variance and the Tukey-Kramer honestly significant difference tests were used to identify statistical significance (P > .05). With respect to bands from a single manufacturer, no differences were found between daily diet/patient compliance levels. However, differences (P < .0001) were found between manufacturers' bands. RMO > UNO > AMO in all environments. Over a 24-hour period, latex elastics maintain their applied load in the simulated oral environments.