The Effect of Three Metal Oxide Nanocoatings on the Frictional Resistance of Superelastic Orthodontic Archwires: A Comprehensive Analysis.

Aim And Objective: To evaluate and compare the impact of nanocoatings made of oxides of Aluminum, Titanium, and Zirconium, on the frictional resistance on three types of superelastic orthodontics archwires namely; nickel titanium, copper nickel titanium and low hysteresis nickel titanium.

Materials And Methods: There are120 archwire segments of equal dimensions were divided into four groups ( = 30) with 10 samples each of low hysteresis superelastic archwires; NiTi archwires and CuNiTi archwires. While group A were uncoated, other groups were nanocoated with group B: Aluminum oxide; group C: Titanium dioxide; group D: Zirconium oxide respectively. Upper premolar metal brackets MBT 0.022 slot were used for testing. The frictional properties of the archwires were measured using a Universal testing machine equipped with a custom-made jig. Statistical tests including analysis of variance and tests were used for analysis.

Results: The least frictional resistance among the three types of archwires was seen with low hysteresis(L&H) NiTi wires coated with ZrO (3.1253 ± 0.45822 ) and the highest with uncoated CuNiTi archwires (7.1113 ± 1.29031 ). Among the nanocoatings, the least value was found for ZrO nanocoatings followed by TiO, Al2O and highest with uncoated archwires across all three types of archwires.

Conclusion: Low hysteresisNiTi have the least frictional resistance compared to CuNiTi and NiTi archwires. The findings also suggest that all the three metal oxide nanocoatings reduce frictional resistance significantly, among which, ZrO nanocoatings were the most effective. This study underscores the potential efficacy of metal oxide nanocoatings in reducing archwire friction and, consequently, will improve orthodontic treatment efficiency and patient comfort. How to cite this article: Dilip S, Rajkumar K. The Effect of Three Metal Oxide Nanocoatings on the Frictional Resistance of Superelastic Orthodontic Archwires: A Comprehensive Analysis. J Contemp Dent Pract 2024;25(7):649-655.