The effect of different orthodontic mini-implant brands and geometry on primary stability (an in vitro study)

BACKGROUND: In orthodontic procedures, mini-implants are routinely used as temporary anchorage devices. Early failure is primarily attributed to a variety of issues, which are mostly connected to the quality and geometry of the screw that lead to insufficient primary stability. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the primary stability of different sizes and brands of orthodontic mini-implants by optimizing the insertion torque value (ITV) and to clear out which one has the greatest primary stability among the most widely used mini-implants by orthodontists. METHODS: Eighty-two self-drilling mini-implants from three different brands with different sizes were used (Optimus Ortho System (Osteonic made in Korea), Smart anchor (GNI made in Korea) (1.4 × 6, 1.6 × 8 and 1.8 × 10mm) and Morelli (made in Brazil) (1.5 × 6, 1.5 × 8 and 1.5 × 10mm), made from (Ti 6Al 4V). All were drilled at a 60° angle on Sixty artificial bone blocks made from polyurethane foam with a digital torque meter device (Orthonia, Jeil made in Korea), pullout strength (tensile force) was measured with a universal testing machine to find out the best brand and size in the mean of primary stability. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 25 and JMP Pro Version 16 software using the One-way ANOVA test, the Post hoc and Tukey HCD tests. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the pullout strength of different sizes for the GNI and OSTEONIC brands, while for the MORELLI brand there were no significant differences between the three different sizes considering ITV (10Ncm) whereas for ITV (20Ncm) there was a significant difference between the different sizes for the pullout of all three brands. GNI was the best brand for all the selected sizes with ITV (10Ncm) and size 1.4 × 6 for ITV (20Ncm), whereas OSTEONIC sizes 1.6 × 8 and 1.8 × 10 were the best for ITV (20Ncm) in term of primary stability. CONCLUSION: GNI screws were demonstrated higher primary among the three widely used brands followed by OSTEONIC for size 1.6 × 8 and 1.8 × 10 while MORELLI was the least resistant to dislodgement for the two torque insertion values 10 N/cm and 20 N/cm.