Evaluation of Self-Adhering Flowable Composites on Repeated Bracket Bonding Process: An In Vitro Study

Duration of orthodontic treatment becomes major concern. The present study compared shear bond strength (SBS) and adhesive remnant index (ARI) values of different adhesive systems with different application methods on rebonding process of retrieved orthodontic brackets. Eighty premolar teeth were equally divided into five groups. Transbond XT (TXT) which belongs to total-etch system was used in Group 1 as the control group. Nova Compo-SF (NC) and Vertise Flow (VF) (Kerr Dental, Italy) which are self-adhering flowable composites were used in Group 2 (NC+etch) and Group 3 (VF+etch) respectively with additional etching before application. Group 4 (NC) and Group 5 (VF) were used by following instructions of each brand. The brackets were debonded with a bracket removing plier and rebonded with the same procedures after sandblasting of the bracket and surface cleaning of the enamel. SBS and ARI were measured for each sample. Comparison between all groups was performed by Kruskal-Wallis test and chisquare test. The highest SBS was observed in NC+etch (median = 11.44, mean = 13.49±9.42), followed by NC (median = 10.17, mean = 11.35±6.55), TXT (median = 6.36, mean = 8.06±6.33), VF+etch (median = 5.68, mean = 6.75±4.58), and VF (median = 2.62, mean = 2.92±2.57), respectively. ARI 1 was observed in 81.3% of TXT whereas 62.5% of NC+etch. ARI 1, 2, and 3 were equally distributed in VF+etch group (31.3%). ARI 5 was observed in 37.5% of NC and 62.5% of VF. Analyses referred to statistically significant differences between five groups regarding both SBS and ARI (p < 0.001). As NC showed the highest SBS on rebonding process, it can be a promising alternative to TXT which is the gold standard.