Comparison of Microleakage Under Rebonded Stainless Steel Orthodontic Brackets Using Two Methods of Adhesive Removal: Sandblast and Laser

Objectives: debonding is a common occurrence in orthodontic treatment and a con-siderable number of orthodontists prefer to rebond the detached brackets because of economic issues. the aim of this study was to compare the microleakage beneath re-bonded stainless steel brackets using two methods of adhesive removal namely sandblast and laser.materials and methods: sixty human premolar teeth were randomly divided into three groups. following bonding the brackets, group 1 served as the control group. brackets in groups 2 and 3 were debonded, and adhesive removal from the bracket bases was done by means of sandblasting and er-yag laser, respectively. after re-bonding, teeth in each group were stained with 2% methylene blue for 24 hours, sec-tioned and examined under a stereomicroscope. marginal microleakage at the adhe-sive-enamel and bracket-adhesive interfaces in the occlusal and gingival margins was determined. statistical analysis was done using the kruskal-wallis test.results: comparison of the microleakage scores among the three groups revealed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). at the enamel-adhesive interface, the gingival margins in all groups showed higher microleakage while in the adhesive-bracket interface, the occlusal margin exhibited greater microleakage.conclusion: er-yag laser irradiation and sandblasting for adhesive removal from the debonded brackets yielded clinically acceptable microleakage scores.