Orthodontic Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Orthodontic, including details on braces, retainers, treatment.

Calorimetric and Thermomechanical Properties of Titanium-Based Orthodontic Wires: DSC-DMA Relationship to Predict the Elastic Modulus.

Laino G, Santis RD, Gloria A, Russo T, Quintanilla DS, Laino A, Martina R, Nicolais L, Ambrosio L

Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, University of Naples 'Federico II,' Via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.

Orthodontic treatment is strongly dependent on the loads developed by metal wires, and the choice of an orthodontic archwire should be based on its mechanical performance. The desire of both orthodontists and engineers would be to predict the mechanical behavior of archwires. To this aim, Gum Metal (Toyota Central R&L Labs., Inc.), TMA (ORMCO), 35°C Copper NiTi (SDS ORMCO), Thermalloy Plus (Rocky Mountain), Nitinol SE (3M Unitek), and NiTi (SDS ORMCO) were tested according to dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. A model was also developed to predict the elastic modulus of superelastic wires. Results from experimental tests have highlighted that superelastic wires are very sensitive to temperature variations occurring in the oral environment, while the proposed model seems to be reliable to predict the Young's modulus allowing to correlate calorimetric and mechanical data. Furthermore, Gum Metal wire behaves as an elastic material with a very low Young's modulus, and it can be particularly useful for the initial stage of orthodontic treatments.

Published 23 February 2011 in J Biomater Appl.
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