Introduction: Recently, nanoparticles such as nano-TiO2 have been added to some dental materials for enhancing dental carries prevention due to their antibacterial activity.
Aim: This study aimed to assess the shear bond strength of a self-adhesive composite containing TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles for orthodontic bracket bonding.
Materials and methods: This in vitro, experimental study was done on 70 extracted human premolars divided into 7 groups. Six groups of Vertise Flow self-adhesive composite samples were prepared: without any nanoparticles, with 0.5% and 1% TiO2 nanoparticles, 0.5% and 1% SiO2 nanoparticles, and 1% mixture of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles so that nano-hybrid composites were prepared. Metal brackets were bonded with these samples as well as Transbond XT as the control group. The shear bond strength of the brackets to enamel was measured using a universal testing machine. The adhesive remnant index (ARI) score was also determined by a stereomicroscope. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, Tukey's test and Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results: The shear bond strength of the groups was significantly different (p=0.000). Pairwise comparisons revealed that the bond strength of Transbond XT group was significantly higher than others (p<0.05), followed by the 1% TiO2 group with significant differences with Vertise Flow and 0.5% TiO2 groups. The lowest value belonged to Vertise Flow with no nanoparticles. The ARI scores was different in the control group (p=0.000).
Conclusions: Adding TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles to Vertise Flow self-adhesive composite not only did not adversely affect its shear bond strength, but also slightly increased it. Overall, the self-adhesive nano-hybrid composite containing TiO2 and/or SiO2 nanoparticles, following an additional etching step would be acceptable for bracket bonding and can be used clinically to benefit from the antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles.
Keywords: TiO2-SiO2; nanoparticles; orthodontic brackets; self-adhesive composite; shear bond strength.
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