Physical properties of conventional and super slick elastomeric ligatures after intraoral use

Objective: To investigate the change in the physical properties of conventional and Super Slick elastomeric ligatures after they have been in the mouth.

Materials and Methods: Nine healthy volunteers took part. One orthodontic bracket was bonded to a premolar tooth in each of the four quadrants of the mouth. Two conventional and two Super Slick elastomeric ligatures were placed at random locations on either side of the mouth. The ligatures were collected after various time intervals and tested using an Instron Universal testing machine. The two outcome measures were failure load and the static frictional resistance.

Results: The failure load for conventional ligatures was reduced to 67% of the original value after 6 weeks in situ. Super Slick elastomeric ligatures showed a comparable reduction after 6 weeks in situ (63% of original value). There were no statistical differences in the static friction between conventional and Super Slick elastomerics that had been in situ for either 24 hours (P = .686) or 6 weeks (P = .416). There was a good correlation between failure load and static friction (r = .49).

Conclusions: There were statistically significant differences in the failure loads of elastomerics that had not be placed in the mouth and those that had been in the mouth for 6 weeks. There were no differences in the static frictional forces produced by conventional and Super Slick ligatures either before or after they had been placed in the mouth. There appears to be a direct proportional relationship between failure load and static friction of elastomeric ligatures. (Angle Orthod 2010;80:175-181.)