Long-term failure rate of brackets bonded with plasma and high-intensity light-emitting diode curing lights:a clinical assessment.
OBJECTIVE
To comparatively assess the long-term failure rate of brackets bonded with a plasma or a high-intensity light-emitting diode (LED) curing light.


METHODS
Twenty-five patients with complete permanent dentitions with similar treatment planning and mechanotherapy were selected for the study. Brackets were bonded according to a split-mouth design with the 3M Ortholite Plasma or the high-power Satelec mini LED Ortho curing light. Irradiation with the two curing lights was performed for 9 seconds at an alternate quadrant sequence so that the bonded brackets cured with either light were equally distributed on the maxillary and mandibular right and left quadrants. First-time bracket failures were recorded for a mean period of 15 months (range 13-18 months) and the results were analyzed with the chi-square test and binary logistic regression.


RESULTS
The failure rate for brackets was 2.8% for the plasma light and 6.7% for the LED light source. Although significantly more failures were found for the mandibular arch, no difference was identified in failure rate between anterior and posterior teeth.


CONCLUSIONS
High-intensity LED curing lights present a 2.5 times higher failure rate relative to plasma lamps for nominally identical irradiation time. Mandibular teeth show almost 150% higher failure incidence compared with maxillary teeth. No effect from the arch side (right vs left) and location (anterior vs posterior) was identified in this study.
Pandis
Nikolaos
N
Strigou
Sophia
S
Eliades
Theodore
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D001840:Dental Bonding / Q000379:methods*; D003748:Dental Equipment; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016910:Orthodontic Brackets; D044367:Phase Transition; D019279:Resin Cements / Q000528:radiation effects; D012666:Semiconductors; D014978:Xenon
C418867:Enlight; D019279:Resin Cements; D014978:Xenon