OBJECTIVETo study the influence of two slot size brackets on torque control when teeth interacted in the same arch.

METHODSAfter the upper arch was aligned and leveled in Typodont study, the inclinations of upper teeth 5 +/- 5 were measured when 0.457 2 mm x 0.635 0 mm OPA-K brackets and 0.558 8 mmx0.711 2 mm OPA-K brackets were filled with 0.431 8 mm x 0.635 0 mm stainless steel wire. This experiment was duplicated 10 times. The inclin of each tooth were transformed to the absolute values of the torque play angle psi by computing program, and paired-t test was used.

RESULTSThe two kinds of slot size brackets were different with statistical significance on torque control. When the brackets were filled with 0.431 8 mm x 0.635 0 mm stainless steel wire, the absolute values of the angle psi in 0.558 8 mm x 0.711 2 mm and 0.457 2 mm x 0.635 0 mm slot size brackets were 6.140 degrees +/- 3.758 degrees and 2.608 degrees +/- 1.479 degrees respectively, and the average difference of that between the two slot size brackets was 3.532 degrees. The absolute values of the angle psi in the upper left and right canine brackets were 2.560 degrees +/- 2.605 degrees, 4.230 degrees +/- 2.817 degrees, 1.260 degrees +/- 0.747 degrees and 2.070 degrees +/- 0.663 degrees respectively, and average differences between them were smaller than that in the other teeth.

CONCLUSIONThere was difference between the two kinds of slot size brackets on torque control, and 0.457 2 mm x 0.635 0 mm slot size bracket controls torque better when filled with the same size wire. In this study, the teeth interaction in the same arch probably caused the result that the difference of two slot size brackets on torque control was less than the study results of the theory calculations and material studys before.