Mechanical performance of nickel-titanium archwires

Abstract

The purpose of the present work is to compare the mechanical properties of commercially available NiTi orthodontic archwires lots. Superelastic (SE) and heat-activated (HA) NiTi archwires from two lots of six manufacturers (3M, GAC, Tp, Orthosource, Orthometric and Morelli) were partitioned into eleven groups (n=132) and tested under three-point benDing tests. The difference between the highest (151.35 gf, Tp) and lowest (98.43 gf, 3M) unloaDing stresses among SE groups was 53.77% (p .05), whereupon there are equivalences in wires commercial offered at different costs.