In Vitro Ion Release of Wires in Removable Orthodontic Appliances

Various orthodontic wire compositions and configurations are present on the market for removable appliances; however, there have still been only few studies focusing on the effect of resin color and additives such as glitter on corrosion of metallic wires under different conditions. Thus, the aim of the study was to compare concentrations of released ions (aluminium, chromium, nickel) in a corrosive medium under three different conditions: non-loaded wires, loaded wires, and non-loaded wires treated with Kukis(®) cleaning tablets. Six different wires made of three types of steel alloy were embedded in PMMA resin leaving one centimetre of each wire emerging from the resin to come into contact with the corrosive medium. Glitter particles were added to half of the produced test specimens. For the unloaded test series, five specimens of each group were covered in a petri dish with 50 mL of corrosive medium (pH 2.3) following EN-ISO 10271 for seven days at 37 °C. The wires for the mechanically loaded test specimens overlapped the resin by 5 cm and were clamped into a time-switched electric drive for a defined period of time before the samples were taken after a testing time of 7 days. In the third group, unloaded test specimens were transferred from their petri dishes into the prepared Kukis(®) solution every 24 h before being stored in the corrosive medium. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to quantify the specific ions in the corrosive solution. Statistical analysis showed that the mechanical loading of all wires could significantly raise the diffusion of ions into the corrosive medium. The colour of the resin did not affect the concentration of the released ions. The Kukis(®) cleaning tabs could not lower the corrosion of the tested metals, as some of the wires were corroded even more using the brace cleanser. Glitter-containing test specimens showed significantly higher amounts of aluminium. Mechanical loading as well as the presence of glitter particles in the resin significantly affected ion concentrations.