Sugared soft drinks and juices do not appear to degrade the physical and chemical properties of nickel titanium orthodontic wires in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment, according to a new study in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica (April 15, 2011).
Researchers from the University of Bologna evaluated the effect of Coca Cola, orange juice, and Gatorade on the Young's modulus, hardness, surface topography, and chemical composition of nickel-titanium-based orthodontic wires.
They cut 32 specimens (20 mm in length) from the straight portion of preformed 0.019 x 0.025-inch nitinol heat-activated archwires and randomly divided into four groups of eight specimens each: Group A1 (Coca Cola regular), Group A2 (Santal orange juice), Group A3 (Gatorade), and Group B (distilled, deionized water). Each specimen was immersed in 10 mL of one of the soft drinks or the control for 60 minutes at 37° C.
The researchers found no statistically significant differences between the groups either in the Young's modulus or hardness after the selected soaking protocol.
"Besides some surface color changes, the topography and the chemical composition of the wires were not affected by the immersion in any of the chosen soft drinks," they noted.
