Chlorine dioxide-containing mouthwash may not impact frictional resistance or surface roughness of Orthodontic Archwire: Study

They involve various types of mouthwashes which have been reported to cause alteration of mechanical properties of archwires. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a new kind of chlorine-dioxide-containing mouthwash on the mechanical properties and surface morphology of stainless steel orthodontic archwires against the already prevalent chlorhexidine mouthwash in the market.

Group A - Chlorhexidine mouthwash 0.2% (study), Group B - Chlorine Dioxide mouthwash (study), and Group C - Artificial Saliva (control). 42 specimens of 5 cm long 19x25 inch SS archwires were immersed in each group equally. Post immersion, the frictional force was analyzed in the universal testing machine for each group using custom-made acrylic jigs for 10 specimens. The remaining 4 specimens from each group were sent for surface morphology evaluation using an atomic force microscope. Results: Friction resistance evaluation for the archwires revealed a mean friction of 0.011 ± 0.0056 in Group A, 0.015 ± 0.0052 in Group B, and 0.010 ± 0.0067 in Group C.

esults suggested that the static friction of Group C (control group) was found to be the least when compared with the experimental groups, although not producing statistically significant values. Surface roughness of archwires compared at a 10μm range revealed a mean roughness of 19.38 ± 0.82 in Group A, 25.39 ± 7.01 in Group B, and 16.65 ± 3.07 in Group C which shows there wasn't any statistically significant difference in the mean roughness midst the three sets. Researchers concluded that Chlorine dioxide-containing mouthwash does not significantly impact the frictional resistance or surface roughness of stainless steel orthodontic archwires under the tested conditions.

Chlorine dioxide may serve as a potential adjunct in orthodontic treatment. However, further research, particularly in vivo studies, is required to validate these findings and assess its long-term effects on orthodontic materials. Therefore Understanding the effects of Chlorine dioxide mouthwash on stainless steel archwires can aid in developing a mechanically efficient archwire-mouthwash combination for orthodontic treatment. Additionally, this study provides a foundation for future comparisons between Chlorine dioxide and the gold-standard Chlorhexidine mouthwash.

Reference:

Apte, Shivani, et al. "Impact of Chlorine Dioxide and Chlorhexidine Mouthwashes On Friction and Surface Roughness of Orthodontic Stainless Steel Wires: an In-vitro Comparative Study." F1000Research, vol. 13, 2024, p. 1442.