Soft drinks can have adverse effects on enamel beneath orthodontic brackets, including enamel erosion, loss of adhesive, and microleakage, according to a study in the European Journal of Orthodontics (July 14, 2010).
However, soft drinks do not lead to reductions in shear bond strength, researchers from the University of Murcia found. They wanted to determine the effects that Coke and Schweppes LimĂłn have on bond strength, adhesive remnant, and microleakage beneath brackets.
The researchers bonded 120 upper central incisor brackets to bovine incisors and divided them into three groups: control, Coke, and Schweppes LimĂłn. The teeth were submerged in the drinks three times a day for 15 minutes over a 15-day period.
Shear bond strength was measured with a universal testing machine, and adhesive remnant evaluated using image analysis equipment. Microleakage at the enamel-adhesive and adhesive-bracket interfaces was determined using methylene blue.
A scanning electron microscope was used to analyze the 108 teeth to determine the effect of the drinks on intact and sealed enamel. The researchers found no significant differences in shear bond strength and adhesive remnant between the groups (p > 0.05).
But microleakage at the enamel-adhesive interface for the Coke and Schweppes LimĂłn groups was significantly greater than for the control group (p < 0.017). In addition, microleakage at the adhesive-bracket interface was significantly greater in the Coke group than in control group (p < 0.017), while microleakage in the Schweppes group did not differ significantly from the other two groups (p < 0.017).
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