Shear Bond Strength Comparison Between Opal Seal and New Flash Free Brackets

Introduction: The aim of this study is to measure the shear bond strength of 3M Clarity Advanced ceramic brackets with APC Flash Free systems (lvoclar, 3M Unitek, Ormco) and 3M Victory Series Low Profile Brackets with APC Flash Free systems (lvoclar, 3M Unitek, Ormco) with and without the use of Opal Seal (Ultradent Products, Inc., South Jordan, UT, USA) an in vitro laboratory study. Methods: Eighty extracted bovine incisors were divided into sixteen groups of five incisors. The sixteen sets was further divided into four groups corresponding to the different treatment modalities. Group 1 was comprised of sets one through four, twenty teeth in total, and was assigned for bonding with Transbond SEP and 3M Clarity Advanced ceramic brackets with APC Flash Free System. Group 2 was comprised of sets five through eight, twenty teeth in total, and was assigned bonding with Opal Seal and 3M Clarity Advanced ceramic brackets with APC Flash Free System. Group 3 was comprised of sets nine through twelve, twenty teeth in total, and was assigned bonding with Opal Seal and 3M Victory Series Low Profile Brackets with APC Flash Free Systems. Group 4 was comprised of sets thirteen through sixteen, twenty teeth in total, and was assigned bonding with Transbond SEP and 3M Victory Series Low Profile Brackets with APC Flash Free Systems. All brackets were debonded with the Instron Universal Testing machine and shear bond strength and Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) was recorded for each bracket. Results: The outcome data for bond strength was normally distributed according to Shapiro-Wilk test (W = 0.98, p = 0.22). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to test the group difference. No significant group differences in bond strength was found. The outcome data for ARI are ordinal data. Nonparametric test (Kruskal-Wallis Test) was performed to test the group differences.