Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

Committee Chair

Peter W. Ngan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the in vivo survival rate and the in vitro shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets bonded with either a halogen light OrtholuxTMXT or a plasma arc light ORTHO LiteTM. Ninety extracted premolars were divided into 6 treatment groups. Bond strengths were tested with an Instron testing machine and bracket failure interface with ARI score. Data was analyzed using ANOVA. No significant differences in bond strength were found between the halogen light with a 20 second curing time and the plasma arc light with a 6 or 10 second curing time. For the in vivo experiment, a split arch technique was used to determine the bracket failure rate and distribution in 25 patients. The Chi-Square analysis showed no significant difference between the two light sources. These results indicate that the plasma arc light with a 6 second curing time can produce similar bond strength and bracket failure rate as the halogen light that requires a longer curing time.

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