Assessment of impact of fluoride on mechanical properties of NiTi and Cu NiTi orthodontic archwires

Abstract

Background: The current study was carried out to assess the impact on the mechanical properties of orthodontic wires such as the NiTi and CuNiTi wires by fluoride available in various prophylactic products. Materials & methods: 80 wire specimens were selected and were divided into two study groups with 20 specimens in each group as follows”: Group A: 0.019 x 0.025 inch NiTi archwires (NT3, American Orthodontics,USA), Group B: 0.019 x 0.025 inch CuNiTi archwires (Tritanium, American Orthodontics,USA). Following fluoride agent was taken as standard for the present study: Phos-Flur gel (Colgate oral pharmaceuticals, New York, USA). From the straight part of the archwire enrolled in the present study, wire specimens of dimensions 0.40 X 0.60 X 20 mm were cut. Control group: 40 specimens consisting of 20 specimens from each wire type; Solution used was deionized water, and Study group: 40 specimens consisting of 20 specimens from each wire group, placed in the Phos-Flur gel. Random selection of the wires was done followed by testing under universal force testing machine. Results: Among the study groups subjects, mean loading force among group A and group B specimens was 596.1 MPa and 368.4 MPa respectively.