ABSTRACT
Background: Elastomeric ligatures have constituted a versatile method of securing the archwire to bracket slot, though self-ligating brackets have been a recent innovation. Coating elastomeric ligatures with a hydrophobic polymeric substance has been suggested as a methodology in reducing friction at the archwire-bracket interface and in repelling salivary adherends. A new polymeric coated ligature tie - Super Slick Ties™ (SST), manufactured using Metafasix technology, has been marketed by TP laboratories for potential reduction in treatment time. Aim: The basic in vitro design is to compare the frictional characteristics of the coated ligatures with those of uncoated ligatures in four different archwires, namely, stainless steel, NiTi, TMA, and Timolium. Materials and Methods: Four archwires used are stainless steel archwires, TMA archwires, Timolium, NiTi archwires, and two types of elastomeric ligatures (the coated and uncoated ligatures) were used. The wires used were of 0.019 × 0.025 dimension. The evaluation of friction between the brackets and the archwire was carried out as per the test protocol described by Tidy. The values for kinetic friction were obtained and tabulated. Mean and standard deviation were calculated. Paired Student's "t" test was performed to analyze the significance of difference between means. Results: The results indicate a significant difference in friction produced when coated and conventional uncoated ligatures were used. Conclusions: SST produced lower levels of friction (11%) for all archwire materials when compared to conventional uncoated ligatures (Dispense-A-Stix) and both conventional uncoated ligatures and coated ligatures gave a rank order of coefficient of kinetic friction (μkf) among archwires, with stainless steel archwires exhibiting the least and TMA TM showing the highest.