Effect of Polishing on the Frictional Resistance of Ceramic Brackets

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
12-045	Catia Fredericci	Fredericci, C.(Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas do Estado de São Paulo); Martins, R.(Inser);	Ceramic brackets based on translucent alumina meet a class of aesthetic and biocompatible orthodontic material with great resistance to wear and coloring. However, the alumina has a limitation of brittleness due to its high hardness, which ends up potentiating the increase of friction with the archwires, such as Nickel-titanium (NiTi). MgO-doped Al2O3 brackets were prepared by injection molding and were heat treated at 1750 ° C. These brackets were polished to improve the aesthetic appearance. However, the effect of polishing on properties such as the frictional resistance in these orthodontic components is not known. The objective of this work was to analyze the effect of polishing on the frictional resistance of the brackets/NiTi archwires using two types of suspensions (diamond and colloidal silica) as well as two types of polishing process (centrifugal disc and rotary drum). The results showed that both static and dynamic frictional resistance (382.53 and 356.2 gf, respectively) was higher for the bracket polished with diamond in the rotary drum.
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