Objectives: The objective of this study is to compare the shear bond strength (SBS) of stainless steel (SS) orthodontic brackets bonded with four different orthodontic adhesives.
Materials and methods: Eighty newly extracted premolars were bonded to 0.022 SS brackets (Ormco, Scafati, Italy) and equally divided into four groups based on adhesive used: (1) Rely-a-Bond (self-cure adhesive, Reliance Orthodontic Product, Inc., Illinois, USA), (2) Transbond XT (light-cure adhesive, 3M Unitek, CA, USA), (3) Transbond Plus (sixth generation self-etch primer, 3M Unitek, CA, USA) with Transbond XT (4) Xeno V (seventh generation self-etch primer, Dentsply, Konstanz, Germany) with Xeno Ortho (light-cure adhesive, Dentsply, Konstanz, Germany) adhesive. Brackets were debonded with a universal testing machine (Model No. 3382 Instron Corp., Canton, Mass, USA). The adhesive remnant index (ARI) was recordedIn addition, the conditioned enamel surfaces were observed under a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Results: Transbond XT (15.49 MPa) attained the highest bond strength. Self-etching adhesives (Xeno V, 13.51 MPa; Transbond Plus, 11.57 MPa) showed clinically acceptable SBS values and almost clean enamel surface after debonding. The analysis of variance (F = 11.85, P < 0.0001) and Chi-square (χ(2) = 18.16, P < 0.05) tests revealed significant differences among groups. The ARI score of 3 (i.e., All adhesives left on the tooth) to be the most prevalent in Transbond XT (40%), followed by Rely-a-Bond (30%), Transbond Plus with Transbond XT (15%), and Xeno V with Xeno Ortho (10%). Under SEM, enamel surfaces after debonding of the brackets appeared porous when an acid-etching process was performed on the surfaces of Rely-a-Bond and Transbond XT, whereas with self-etching primers enamel presented smooth and almost clean surfaces (Transbond Plus and Xeno V group).
Conclusion: All adhesives yielded SBS values higher than the recommended bond strength (5.9-7-8 MPa), Seventh generation self-etching primer Xeno V with Xeno Ortho showed clinically acceptable SBS and the least amount of residual adhesive left on the enamel surface after debonding.
Keywords: Adhesive remnant index; orthodontic adhesives; self-etching primer; shear bond strength.