Colour changes of orthodontic elastomeric module materials exposed toin vitrodietary media

Abstract

Clinicians should make patients aware of the effect of consuming beverages and spices on the colour stability of their selected ligature modules. Clinicians should favour modules made with injection moulding. Darker colour modules may be preferred to clear modules to avoid excessive colour degradation through dietary media such as beverages and food spices. Patients consuming large amounts of spices or coffee should avoid clear modules made by extrusion processing because of their tendency to discolour.

In vivo color changes of esthetic orthodontic ligatures

“…4 In assessing the color, laboratory investigations were performed in an attempt to find differences in the staining of these elastomeric ligatures after immersion in different solutions. In these investigations, the change in color was measured quantitatively by means of a visual analog scale 12 or computational analyses, 10,11 The results indicated that certain substances stain more than others, such as methylene blue and red pepper sauce. 10,11 Although a visually perceptible color change value was reported, 11 the equipment used in the research features considerable optical sensitivity and can be influenced by luminance and color of the surface on which the elastomeric ligatures are examined.…”

“…In these investigations, the change in color was measured quantitatively by means of a visual analog scale 12 or computational analyses, 10,11 The results indicated that certain substances stain more than others, such as methylene blue and red pepper sauce. 10,11 Although a visually perceptible color change value was reported, 11 the equipment used in the research features considerable optical sensitivity and can be influenced by luminance and color of the surface on which the elastomeric ligatures are examined. Furthermore, one cannot determine to what extent color variations can compromise the visual esthetic pleasantness of an elastomeric ligature.…”

“…Changes in the color of orthodontic ligatures have been performed by in vitro laboratory studies, [10][11][12] whereas the literature reports no in vivo analysis of such color changes. This study, therefore, provides results that are closer to reality by assessing color changes in elastomeric ligatures after exposure to the oral environment.…”

“…The results addressed a very common issue among orthodontists, that is which brand ensures for the patient greater esthetic stability during the period between two orthodontic maintenance visits. Previous attempts were made to examine the results with spectrometry (Minolta) 10 and through an analysis of photographs with Adobe Photoshop software version 10.0 (Adobe System Inc., San Jose, California, USA). 11 However, the results showed a high variability in the test-retest examination, especially spectrophotometry, due to limitations inherent in the technique, which requires a relatively large area for color analysis.…”

“…8,9 In orthodontics, some laboratory studies have shown that light-colored elastomeric ligatures show color changes after immersion in liquids with high pigmentation capacity. [10][11][12] Since these studies were conducted in vitro, they may not account for numerous other factors present in the oral environment that could contribute to color changes, such as the oral flora, the mechanical effect of brushing, solid and semisolid foods, which can also stain, among many others. Thus, it seems quite obvious that an in vivo study can yield a more realistic analysis of actual color changes taking place in orthodontic materials after clinical use.…”