A Novel Method of Coating Orthodontic Archwires with Nanoparticles

BACKGROUND: The major hazard to the orthodontic tooth movement is the friction developing at the bracket wire interface. In the past, there have been various attempts to reduce this friction. We believe that coating the commercially available orthodontic wires with nanoparticles can result in a successful reduction of this friction. The objective of this study is to develop a novel method of coating orthodontic archwires with nanoparticles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stainless steel (Ormco, CA, USA), titanium molybdenum alloy (Ormco, CA, USA) and nickel-titanium (G and H Wire Company, USA) orthodontic wires with a rectangular cross-section dimension of 0.019”× 0.025”, were selected. The wires were later coated with a uniform and smooth nanoparticle film using 100 ml nanocremics. The coating procedure described in this article is a sol-gel thin film dip coating method. RESULTS: The coating procedure was verified by comparing the surface topography of nanocoated archwires with the commercially available archwires in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The ESEM images prove that the surface topography of the coated wires was found to be smoother with less surface deteriorations as compared to the commercially available wires. CONCLUSION: Commercially available orthodontic wires can be successfully coated using a novel method of sol-gel thin film dip coating method.