Martensitic transformation of austenitic stainless steel orthodontic wires during intraoral exposure.

Introduction: Our purpose was to study the mechanical properties and phase transformations of orthodontic wires submitted to in-vivo exposure in the mouth for different periods of time.

Methods: Stainless steel wires were tied to fixed orthodontic appliances of 30 patients from the orthodontics clinic of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro School of Dentistry in Brazil. According to the duration of the clinical treatment, the patients were divided into 3 groups.