An investigation of the friction, wear and corrosion properties of orthodontic appliances

摘要

This study investigated the frictional resistance and wear patterns exhibited by titanium and stainless steel brackets used in conjunction with stainless and beta-titanium (TMA) archwires in the dry state and in the presence of human saliva.;In the dry state, stainless steel brackets tested with.016 inch flat stainless steel wire surfaces recorded the lowest coefficient of static friction mean (0.289), while titanium brackets paired with.016 inch flat TMA wire surfaces produced the highest mean (0.767). Stainless steel brackets had significantly lower coefficients of friction than titanium brackets for all wires except.020 inch round stainless steel wires (p $<$ 0.05). TMA wires generally had significantly larger coefficients of friction than stainless steel wires. The increased friction of the titanium and TMA alloys is also reflected in the severity of their wear patterns. An inverse relationship between friction and archwire surface dimension was generally found for TMA wires. Round wires demonstrated lower coefficients of kinetic friction than the flat wire surfaces. Human saliva did not significantly affect friction except when titanium brackets were coupled with stainless steel wires. No evidence of stress corrosion was found when testing was performed with saliva.