Effects of thermoforming on the physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic materials for transparent orthodontic aligners / 대한치과교정학회지

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic multiscale analysis was to evaluate the effects of thermoforming on the physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic materials used to fabricate transparent orthodontic aligners (TOAs). METHODS: Specimens were fabricated using four types of thermoplastic materials with different thicknesses under a thermal vacuum. Transparency, water absorption and solubility, surface hardness, and the results of three-point bending and tensile tests were evaluated before and after thermoforming. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Student's t-test. RESULTS: After thermoforming, the transparency of Duran and Essix A+ decreased, while the water absorption ability of all materials; the water solubility of Duran, Essix A+, and Essix ACE; and the surface hardness of Duran and Essix A+ increased. The flexure modulus for the 0.5-mm-thick Duran, Essix A+, and eCligner specimens increased, whereas that for the 0.75-/1.0-mm-thick Duran and eClginer specimens decreased. In addition, the elastic modulus increased for the 0.5-mm-thick Essix A+ specimens and decreased for the 0.75-mm-thick Duran and Essix ACE and the 1.0-mm-thick Essix ACE specimens. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the physical and mechanical properties of thermoplastic materials used for the fabrication of TOAs should be evaluated after thermoforming in order to characterize their properties for clinical application.

Micro-CT System for Small Animal Imaging / 의학물리

We developed a high-resolution micro-CT system based on rotational gantry and flat-panel detector for live mouse imaging. This system is composed primarily of an x-ray source with micro-focal spot size, a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) flat panel detector coupled with CsI (Tl) (thallium-doped cesium iodide) scintillator, a linearly moving couch, a rotational gantry coupled with positioning encoder, and a parallel processing system for image data. This system was designed to be of the gantry-rotation type which has several advantages in obtaining CT images of live mice, namely, the relative ease of minimizing the motion artifact of the mice and the capability of administering respiratory anesthesia during scanning. We evaluated the spatial resolution, image contrast, and uniformity of the CT system using CT phantoms. As the results, the spatial resolution of the system was approximately the 11.3 cycles/mm at 10% of the MTF curve, and the radiation dose to the mice was 81.5 mGy. The minimal resolving contrast was found to be less than 46 CT numbers on low-contrast phantom imaging test. We found that the image non-uniformity was approximately 70 CT numbers at a voxel size of ~55x55x100micrometer3. We present the image test results of the skull and lung, and body of the live mice.

A study on the release of nickel and chromium from simulated orthodontic appliances / 대한치과교정학회지

Nickel and chromium are two major metals used in the alloys of most orthodontic appliances. But these metals are known to cause hypersensitivity, dermatitis, and asthma. In addition, a significant carcinogenic and mutagenic potential has been demonstrated for compounds containing these metals. The purpose of this study was to find out how much nickel and chromium was released from orthodontic appliances, and which factors would influence the release. The simulated orthodontic appliances were constructed for a half of a mandibular arch and incubated in 0.05% NaCl solution at 37degrees C. Nickel and chromium release was quantified with an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) spectroanalyzer. The results were as follows : 1. From simulated orthodontic appliances, nickel was released 9.83-70.0microgram/day but the release of chromium was not detectable in limit of 10ppb. 2. The amount of nickel release was significantly different between the types of appliances. 3. The galvanic condition increased the amount of nickel release, which was not statistically significant. 4. The sand blasting increased the amount of nickel release, which was also not statistically significant.