Resistance To Sliding in Clear and Metallic Damon 3 and Conventional Edge-Wise Brackets: An in Vitro Study

Statement of the problem: frictional forces are considered as important counter-force to orthodontic tooth movement. it is claimed that self-ligating brackets reduce the frictional forces. purpose: the aim of this study was to compare the resistance to sliding in metallic and clear damon brackets with the conventional brackets in a wet condition.materials and method: the samples included 4 types of brackets; metallic and clear damon brackets and metallic and clear conventional brackets (10 brackets in each group). in this study, stainless steel wires sized 0.019×0.025 were em-ployed and the operator’s saliva was used to simulate the conditions of oral cavity. the tidy-modified design was used for simulation of sliding movement. the resistance to sliding and static frictional forces was measured by employing testometric machine and load cell.results: the mean (±sd) of resistance to sliding was 194.88 (±26.65) and 226.62 (±39.9) g in the esthetic and metallic damon brackets, while these values were 187.81(±27.84) and 191.17(±66.68) g for the clear and metallic conventional brackets, respectively. static frictional forces were 206.4(±42.45) and 210.38(±15.89) g in the esthetic and metallic damon brackets and 220.63(±49.29) and 215.13(±62.38) g in the clear and metallic conventional brackets. according to two-way anova, no significant difference was observed between the two bracket materials (clear and metal) and the two types of bracket (self-ligating versus conventional) regarding resistance to sliding (p= 0.17 and p= 0.23, respectively) and static frictional forces (p= 0.55 and p= 0.96, respectively).conclusion: neither the type of bracket materials nor their type of ligation made difference in resistance to sliding and static friction.