Long-term failure rate of brackets bonded with plasma and high-intensity light-emitting diode curing lights: A clinical assessment

Abstract

Objective: To comparatively assess the long-term failure rate of brackets bonded with a plasma or a high-intensity light-emitting diode (LED) curing light. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients with complete permanent dentitions with similar treatment planning and mechanotherapy were selected for the study. Brackets were bonded according to a split-mouth design with the 3M Ortholite Plasma or the high-power Satelec mini LED Ortho curing light. Irradiation with the two curing lights was performed for 9 seconds at an alternate quadrant sequence so that the bonded brackets cured with either light were equally distributed on the maxillary and mandibular right and left quadrants. First-time bracket failures were recorded for a mean period of 15 months (range 13-18 months) and the results were analyzed with the chi-square test and binary logistic regression. Results: The failure rate for brackets was 2.8% for the plasma light and 6.7% for the LED light source. Although significantly more failures were found for the mandibular arch, no difference was identified in failure rate between anterior and posterior teeth. Conclusions: High-intensity LED curing lights present a 2.5 times higher failure rate relative to plasma lamps for nominally identical irradiation time. Mandibular teeth show almost 150% higher failure incidence compared with maxillary teeth. No effect from the arch side (right vs left) and location (anterior vs posterior) was identified in this study. © 2007 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.