Six-month bracket survival with a self-etch adhesive.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate, over a 6-month period, the clinical performance of a self-etch adhesive (Transbond Plus Self-Etching) compared with a conventional adhesive that uses the etch and rinse approach (Transbond XT).


METHODS
One operator, using the straight-wire technique, placed 567 metallic brackets in 30 patients (age range 12-18 years) such that homologous teeth from the same arch received different materials. The brackets were bonded following the manufacturer's instruction except for the fact that the self-etch system was brushed for a longer time than recommended (10-15 seconds). The failure modes were visually classified into three modes: adhesive-enamel, adhesive-bracket, and cohesive failure. The survival rate of the brackets was estimated by Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test (P < .05).


RESULTS
The failure rates of the conventional and self-etch [corrected] adhesives were 10.6% and 7.4%, respectively. The failure rate of the conventional system was 0.43 [corrected] times greater than that of the self-etch system. The self-etch adhesive showed a higher survival rate compared with the conventional system (P < .05). Most of the failures were cohesive and at the adhesive-enamel surface. No difference in the fracture debonding mode was observed for the materials.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that the self-etch Transbond Plus Self-Etching can be safely used for orthodontic brackets because it provides higher survival rates than does the conventional Transbond XT.
dos Santos
José Elui
JE
Department of Orthodontics, University of Oeste de Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Quioca
Jonas
J
Loguercio
Alessandro Dourado
AD
Reis
Alessandra
A
D000134:Acid Etching, Dental; D000268:Adhesiveness; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D001840:Dental Bonding; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016910:Orthodontic Brackets; D009969:Orthodontic Wires; D019279:Resin Cements / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D016019:Survival Analysis
D019279:Resin Cements; C429625:Transbond Plus Self-Etching Primer; C477790:Transbond XT