Abstract

In this work, we investigated the properties of a glass‐fiber‐reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) composed of small‐diameter (ϕ = 5 μm), high‐strength glass (T‐glass) fibers and polycarbonate for esthetic orthodontic wires formed using pultrusion. After fabricating such GFRTP round wires, the effects of varying fiber diameter (5 to 13 mm) on the mechanical properties, durabilities, and color stabilities were evaluated. The results showed that the mechanical properties of GFRTPs tend to increase with decreasing fiber diameter. Additionally, it was confirmed that the present GFRTP wires containing T‐glass fibers have better flexural properties than previously reported GFRTP wires containing E‐glass fibers. Meanwhile, thermocycling did not significantly affect the flexural properties of the GFRTP wires. Furthermore, the GFRTP wires showed color changes lower than the acceptable threshold level for color differences on immersion in coffee. From these results obtained in the present work, the GFRTP wires containing high‐strength glass fibers have excellent properties for orthodontic applications. Our findings suggest that the GFRTPs might be applied to all phases of orthodontic treatment because their properties can be tuned by changing the fiber properties such as fiber type and diameter.

Highlights

  • Orthodontic wires are widely used in orthodontic appliances throughout treatment. ese wires are made from metal alloys such as stainless steel (SS), cobalt-chromium-nickel alloy (Co-Cr), β-titanium alloy (β-Ti), and nickel-titanium alloy (Ni-Ti) [1]

  • Polycarbonate has been widely used in orthodontic appliances such as esthetic brackets and clear retainers [4], and it was used as a matrix of the glass-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) because of its high transparency, low weight, and high heat resistance [2, 5]. e previous study confirmed that the GFRTP wires are more transparent than conventional metallic wires [2]

  • The GFRTP wires had frictional and flexural properties similar to those of the Ni-Ti wires [2, 3]. ese findings show that GFRTP wires composed of polycarbonate and E-glass fibers are promising for use in orthodontic appliances

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Summary

Research Article

Characterization of Esthetic Orthodontic Wires Made from Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Containing High-Strength, Small-Diameter Glass Fibers. We investigated the properties of a glass-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) composed of small-diameter (φ 5 μm), high-strength glass (T-glass) fibers and polycarbonate for esthetic orthodontic wires formed using pultrusion. After fabricating such GFRTP round wires, the effects of varying fiber diameter (5 to 13 mm) on the mechanical properties, durabilities, and color stabilities were evaluated. The GFRTP wires showed color changes lower than the acceptable threshold level for color differences on immersion in coffee From these results obtained in the present work, the GFRTP wires containing high-strength glass fibers have excellent properties for orthodontic applications. Our findings suggest that the GFRTPs might be applied to all phases of orthodontic treatment because their properties can be tuned by changing the fiber properties such as fiber type and diameter

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