The aim of this study is to evaluate cytotoxicity between polyurethane and non-latex orthodontic elastomeric ligatures. Seven elastomeric ligatures of black-coloured from different manufactures (3 non-latex, 3 polyurethane and 1 latex) were divided into 7 groups of 10 elastics each: Group UK (nonlatex, 3M Unitek), Group TP (nonlatex, TP Orthodontics), Group AO (nonlatex, American Orthodontics), Group O (Polyurethane, OrthoSource), Group M (Polyurethane, Morelli), Group TD (Polyurethane, Tecnident) and Group TC (latex - Control, TP Orthodontics). The cytotoxicity essay was performed using cell cultures (L-929 line cells, mouse fibroblast) that were submitted to the cell viability test with neutral red ("dye-uptake") at 1, 2, 3, 7 and 28 days. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 1-way analysis followed by the Tukey post hoc test were employed (p<.05). The results showed no statistically significant differences between Groups UK, TP and AO in all experimental times (p>.05). There was a statistically differences (p<.05) between the viability cell of Groups UK, TP and AO with the Groups O, M, TD and TC at 1, 2, 3 and 7 days. There was no statistically differences (p>.05) between the groups O, M and TD at in all experimental times. It can be concluded that the nonlatex elastomeric ligatures of Unitek, TP Orthodontics, and American Orthodontics showed higher cell viability compared to others ligatures.
Cytotoxicity; Elastomers; Cell culture
