The use of Ormocer as an alternative material for bonding orthodontic brackets.

As new adhesives, composite resins, and bonding techniques were introduced, orthodontists adopted some of these innovations and added them to their armamentarium. The purpose of this study was to compare the shear bond strength (SBS) of two adhesive materials; one with an organically modified ceramic matrix, Admira (Voco, Cuxhaven, Germany) and another that contains the traditional Bis GMA matrix namely Transbond XT (3M Unitek, Monrovia, Calif). The new materials have a lower wear rate and are more biocompatible than traditional composites. Forty molar teeth were randomly divided into two groups: 20 teeth bonded with the Transbond adhesive system and the other 20 teeth with the Admira bonding system. Student's t-test was used to compare the SBS of the two adhesives. Significance was predetermined at P < or = .05. The results of the t-test comparisons (t = 0.489) of the SBS indicated that there was no significant (P = .628) difference between the two adhesives tested. The mean SBS for Admira was 5.1 +/- 3.3 MPa and that for Transbond XT was 4.6 +/- 3.2 MPa. It was concluded that the new material, Ormocer, which is an organically modified ceramic restorative material can potentially have orthodontic applications if available in a more flowable paste. These new materials are more biocompatible and have lower wear rate including bonding orthodontic brackets to teeth.