A critical approach to the biocompatibility testing of NiTi orthodontic archwires

Abstract

The biocompatibility of Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) archwires was investigated by simulating actual contact state of archwires around brackets, which enabled incorporation of realistic mechanical conditions into ex situ experiments. Specifically, archwires (undeformed, and bound to brackets on acrylic dental molds) were statically immersed in artificial saliva (AS) for 31 days. Following the immersion, the archwires and the immersion solutions were analyzed with the aid of variouselectron-optical techniques, and it was observed that carbon-rich corrosion products formed on both archwire sets upon immersion. The corrosion products preferentially formed at the archwire–bracket contact zones, which is promoted by the high energy of these regions and the micro-cracks brought about by stress assisted corrosion. Moreover, it is suggested that these corrosion products prevented significant Ni or Ti ion release by blocking the micro-cracks, which, otherwise, would have led to enhanced ion release during immersion. The current findings demonstrate the need for incorporating both realistic chemical and mechanical conditions into the ex situ biocompatibility experiments of orthodontic archwires, including the archwire-bracket contact.