Alternatives to ceramic brackets: the tensile bond strengths of two aesthetic brackets compared ex vivo with stainless steel foil-mesh bracket bases.

Abstract

The mean tensile/peel bond strengths were evaluated for three types of aesthetic brackets (a ceramic-reinforced bracket and two generations of a ceramic/polycarbonate combination bracket). These were found to be significantly lower than the mean tensile/peel bond strength of a convention foil-mesh stainless steel bracket base. Failure of the ceramic-reinforced polycarbonate brackets occurred predominantly by fracture of the tie wings during testing. With the ceramic/polycarbonate combination brackets, the majority of the specimens failed due to separation of the ceramic and polycarbonate parts of the bracket.