Priming and bonding metal, ceramic and polycarbonate brackets

Objective: To investigate if primers can be used to modify bonding characteristics of orthodontic brackets. Materials and methods: Stainless steel, zirconia-alumina ceramic and polycarbonate brackets were bonded to enamel with and without universal and bracket material specific primers on the bracket base. Orthodontic adhesive cement (Transbond™XT) was used for bonding. The primers in each group (n = 10) were silane based (RelyX™ Ceramic Primer) and universal primer (Monobond Plus) for ceramic and metal brackets, and adhesive resin (Adper™ Scotchbond™ Multi-Purpose Adhesive) and composite primer (GC Composite Primer) for polycarbonate brackets. Controls with no primer were used for all bracket types. Teeth with bonded brackets were stored in distilled water in 37 °C for 7 days and debonded with static shear loading. Debonding forces were recorded and analyzed with ANOVA. Adhesive remnant index (ARI) was determined and enamel damage examined. Results: The bond strength without primers was 8.14 MPa (±1.49) for metal, 21.9 MPa (±3.55) for ceramic and 10.47 MPa (±2.11) for polycarbonate brackets (p < .05). Using silane as primer increased the bond strength of ceramic brackets significantly to 26.45 MPa (±5.00) (p < .05). ARI-scores were mostly 2–3 (>50% of the adhesive left on the enamel after debonding), except with silane and ceramic brackets, ARI-score was mostly 0–1 (>50% of the adhesive left on the bracket). Debonding caused fractured enamel in four specimens with ceramic brackets. Conclusions: Bond strength was highest for ceramic brackets. Silane primer increased bond strength when used with ceramic brackets leading to enamel fractures, but otherwise primers had only minor effect on the bond strength values.