In vitro investigation into the biological assessment of orthodontic wires.

The alloys used in orthodontics are subject in the moist environment of the oral cavity to various corrosion processes. If the products of the corrosion are introduced into a biological system they may cause changes. In the present investigation the corrosion rate of 23 different orthodontic wires (preformed arch wires and straight wires) made from 5 different alloys were examined in a nutrient medium by ICP-AES analysis, and the influence of the corrosion products on the cytotoxicity of a fibroblast culture was investigated using Mosmann's MTT test. The nickel-titanium wires Nitinol, Sentalloy and Original Chinese Wire and the beta-titanium alloy TMA had no effect on the rate of cell proliferation. Nor did stainless steel wires inhibit growth significantly, with the exception of Australian Wire and Wildcat Wire. The manganese-steel alloys Noninium h and Mezanium caused significant reductions in growth rate, which were attributed to the manganese ions released by the corrosion. The most severe growth inhibition was caused by the Co-Cr-Ni alloy Elgiloy, and this reaction is independent of the 4 levels of resilience. The degree of growth inhibition depended upon the concentration of corrosive cobalt and nickel ions in the eluate. In spite of the differences observed, all the orthodontic wires examined are graded under ISO-standard 10993-5 as "non-cytotoxic". The degree of toxicity was found to be determined essentially by the corrosion rate of the alloy and the cytotoxic characteristics of the resulting trace elements.