An Indigenously Designed Apparatus for Measuring Orthodontic Force

摘要

Aim: An indigenous apparatus is designed to measure theorthodontic force delivered from elastomeric chains andcompare this force with values obtained from the Instronuniversal testing machine.Material and Methods: An indigenously designed apparatus isdeveloped to evaluate forces delivered by various orthodonticauxiliaries. The apparatus consists of a flat steel platform,movable arm, and a mounted screw gauge arm. Orthodonticbrackets can be attached to these arms. An electric circuit isconnected, to the movable arm, which will estimate the forcesexerted between brackets with elastomeric chain. The circuitis connected to the signal conditioner which will display thereading. Elastomeric chain with four links is attached to thearms. The movable arm is adjusted to create orthodontic forcesand calibrated on the digital displayer. Twenty Elastomericchains are used and forces are calibrated with the indigenouslydesigned apparatus. The values of the force is compared withthe forces calibrated with Instron universal testing machine tocompare the efficacy of the indigenous apparatus.Results: The force values obtained from activation of elastomericchain segments, in the Instron universal testing machine and theindigenous apparatus were in the range of 100 to 150 grams,initially at 1mm activation then, took a steep rise to 300 to 350grams at 5mm activation and then, had a gradual increase forthe remaining 5mm activation, reaching 400 to 450 grams.Conclusion: The Indigenous apparatus can be consideredefficient in measuring tensile force generated by orthodonticauxiliaries.