Comparative Evaluation of Shear Bond Strength of Recycled Stainless Steel Brackets: an in Vitro Study

In clinical practice, Orthodontist is in dilemma while encountering used brackets. Recycling the brackets is one of the solutions. This recycling process deals with removing bonding agent remnants from the bracket base, thus allowing the brackets to be reused in the procedure. This study was conducted using four groups of orthodontic stainless steel brackets bonded on premolars embedded in orthocal blocks. These orthodontic brackets were recycled using four different recycling methods such as Direct Flaming, Sandblasting, Flaming with Electropolishing and Ultrasonic Scaling after the brackets were debonded. The bracket of all 4 experimental groups was again debonded after rebonding to simulate the clinical condition at which a newly bonded bracket was adhered to the tooth surface. Shear bond strength testing was performed and one way Anova was used with post hoc for comparison. Level of statistical significance set at 0.05. Among the four recycling techniques evaluated, Group II (Sandblasting) demonstrated the highest mean shear bond strength followed by Group IV (Flaming with Electropolishing) followed by Group I (Direct Flaming) while Group III (Ultrasonic Scaling) showed the lowest values. Recycling orthodontic stainless steel brackets is a cost-effective and practical approach. Sandblasting showed the highest shear bond strength while Ultrasonic scaling showed lowest bond strength. Thus, sandblasting and flaming with electropolishing are the most reliable recycling methods.