Effect of different media on frictional forces between tribological systems made from self-ligating brackets in combination with different stainless steel wire dimensions.

The purpose was to determine the effect of different environments (artificial saliva, human saliva, distilled water, dry storage) on frictional forces between various tribological systems made from self-ligating brackets in combination with stainless-steel wires (dimensions: 0.016″×0.022″, 0.018″×0.025″ and 0.019″×0.025″). An universal testing-machine applied a normal force of 1 N. Two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests (α=5%) were used. Saliva had significantly higher frictional forces (p<0.001). Yet, the influence of the media depends on the wire dimensions. The results were not as straightforward as in 0.018″×0.025″, which had a clear order (dry storage<water<artificial saliva<human saliva, p<0.001 each). Except for human saliva, wire dimensions differed significantly from each other (p<0.001). Increasing wire cross-sections increases frictional force. Thus, saliva acts as adhesive. High frictional forces of larger wires are attributed to the contact between latch and wire. Still, in-vitro experiments can only approximate the quasi-static tooth movement and the various fluids in the mouth.