The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vitro the shear bond strength of recycled orthodontic brackets. S2C-03Z brackets (Dental Morelli, Brazil) were bonded to the buccal surfaces of 50 extracted human premolars using Concise Orthodontic chemically cured composite resin (3M, USA). The teeth were randomly assigned to 5 groups (n=10), as follows. In group I (control), the bonded brackets remained attached until shear testing (i.e., no debonding/rebonding). In groups II, III and IV, the bonded brackets were detached and rebonded after recycling by 90-mum particle aluminum oxide blasting, silicon carbide stone grinding or an industrial process at a specialized contractor company (Abzil-Lancer, Brazil), respectively. In group V, the bonded brackets were removed and new brackets were bonded to the enamel surface. Shear bond strength was tested in an Instron machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey's test at 5% significance level. There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the control brackets (0.52 kgf/mm²), brackets recycled by aluminum oxide blasting (0.34 kgf/mm²) and new brackets attached to previously bonded teeth (0.43 kgf/mm²). Brackets recycled by the specialized company (0.28 kgf/mm²) and those recycled by silicon carbide stone grinding (0.14 kgf/mm²) showed the lowest shear strength means and differed statistically from control brackets (0.52 kgf/mm²) (p<0.05). In conclusion, the outcomes of this study showed that bracket recycling using 90-µm aluminum oxide particle air-abrasion was efficient and technically simple, and might provide cost reduction for orthodontists and patients alike.
orthodontic brackets; bonding; recycling; aluminum oxide air abrasion
