Characterization of Esthetic Orthodontic Wires Made from Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Containing High-Strength, Small-Diameter Glass Fibers

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the properties of a glass-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) composed of small-diameter (ϕ = 5 μm), high-strength glass (T-glass) fibers and polycarbonate for esthetic orthodontic wires formed using pultrusion. After fabricating such GFRTP round wires, the effects of varying fiber diameter (5 to 13 mm) on the mechanical properties, durabilities, and color stabilities were evaluated. The results showed that the mechanical properties of GFRTPs tend to increase with decreasing fiber diameter. Additionally, it was confirmed that the present GFRTP wires containing T-glass fibers have better flexural properties than previously reported GFRTP wires containing E-glass fibers. Meanwhile, thermocycling did not significantly affect the flexural properties of the GFRTP wires. Furthermore, the GFRTP wires showed color changes lower than the acceptable threshold level for color differences on immersion in coffee. From these results obtained in the present work, the GFRTP wires containing high-strength glass fibers have excellent properties for orthodontic applications. Our findings suggest that the GFRTPs might be applied to all phases of orthodontic treatment because their properties can be tuned by changing the fiber properties such as fiber type and diameter.