Avaliação da degradação de elásticos em cadeia ortodônticos no ambiente bucal

Abstract

The increasing number of patients seeking for aesthetic orthodontic treatment stimulated the industry to develop different aesthetic materials. Translucent elastics exhibit good clinical and aesthetic performance, although they are susceptible to color degradation processes when exposed to the oral environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the color change of four translucent elastic chains exposed to the oral environment of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment for 21 days. The materials tested were: Abzil (3M Unitek), American Orthodontics (American Orthodontics), Dentsply GAC (Dentisply Sirona) and TP Orthodontics (TP Orthodontics). The elastics were delivered to an orthodontist for installation on the patients. After 21 days, at the returning visit, the materials were collected. Measurement of color changes were performed using a spectrophotometer (Vita Easyshade - VITA Zahnfabrik, Bad Bad Säckingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) before and after installation in the oral cavity using CIELab parameters. The data obtained were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnoff Ttest, One-way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparisons Test. The largest color changes were observed for TP Orthodontics (3.93) and American Orthodontics (3.91), respectively. The lowest result of color variation was detected for the Dentsply GAC (3.27), presenting a significant difference when compared to Abzil (3.54). It was concluded that all translucent elastic tested showed color change after exposure to the oral environment after 21 days.