SHORT COMMUNICATION

Force-deflection comparison of superelastic

nickel-titanium archwires
Daniel C. Mallory, DDS,a Jeryl D. English, DDS, MS,b John M. Powers, PhD,c William A. Brantley, PhD,d and
Harry I. Bussa, DDS, MSe
Houston, Tex, and Columbus, Ohio

This in vitro study compared the force-deflection behavior of 6 superelastic nickel-titanium orthodontic
archwires (0.016 ⫻ 0.022 in) under controlled moment and temperature. To simulate leveling, maxillary
canine brackets and first molar tubes were bonded in such a manner as to remove the tip and angulation from
the system. The wires (n ⫽ 10) were passively self-ligated into stainless steel brackets attached to an acrylic
jig to simulate the maxillary arch. A testing machine recorded deactivations of 3 distances (5, 4, and 3 mm)
at 37°C in the canine position. Force-deflection measurements were recorded from the deactivations only.
Forces produced during deactivation, at deflections of 2.5, 2.0, and 1.5 mm, were compared by analysis of
variance. Significant differences (P ⬍ 0.0001) in forces were observed among the wires at the various
deflections. All wires exhibited superelastic behavior, and rankings were derived according to statistically
significant differences for each deflection distance. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2004;126:110-2)

O
rthodontic archwires, through their engage- elastic Ni-Ti is its ability to produce light, continuous
ment with the bracket, generate biomechanical forces over long ranges of activation.4,5 When this wire
forces necessary to move the teeth. Orthodon- begins to recover its original shape, it provides a light,
tists are constantly searching for the most effective continuous force to the dentition and supporting perio-
archwire. An ideal archwire should move teeth with dontium without root resorption or necrosis.6,7 Numer-
light continuous forces, which would reduce the risks ous studies have discussed the properties of superelastic
of patient discomfort, periodontal ligament necrosis, Ni-Ti alloy.8-22
and undermining resorption.1 It would be a clinical The purpose of this study was to investigate the
advantage if an archwire could produce this constant force-deflection characteristics of the martensitic-active
delivery of force over a period of weeks or months. or heat-activated superelastic Ni-Ti wires, during large
Four archwire alloys with desirable properties are deflections, by using a modified bending test. This
currently used to accomplish this objective: stainless study details the comparison of forces achieved during
steel, cobalt-chromium, nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti), and the deactivation of a deflection test that attempts to
beta-titanium.2 imitate a clinical situation.
Superelastic Ni-Ti archwires have been widely
accepted for initial alignment of malocclusions mainly MATERIAL AND METHODS
because of their unique properties of superelasticity and
The deflection test used a device fabricated to simulate
shape memory.3 An impressive characteristic of super-
the movement of a maxillary canine. The jig included an
a
Graduate, Department of Orthodontics, University of Texas Health Science acrylic plate cut to resemble a typical maxillary arch, in
Center at Houston Dental Branch. which the portion holding the left canine bracket was free
b
Professor and chairman, Department of Orthodontics, University of Texas to move with the vertical application of forces. To
Health Science Center at Houston Dental Branch.
c
Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials; Director, simulate an intraoral clinical situation, maxillary 0.022 ⫻
Houston Biomaterials Research Center, University of Texas Health Science 0.028-in brackets and first molar tubes (Damon, Ormco,
Center at Houston Dental Branch. Glendora, Calif) were bonded to the lateral surface of the
d
Professor, Section of Restorative and Prosthetic Dentistry; Director, Graduate
Program in Dental Materials, Ohio State University, Columbus. acrylic plate. This was accomplished while the brackets
e
Associate professor, Department of Orthodontics, University of Texas Health were engaged to a full-size archwire to remove any
Science Center at Houston Dental Branch. angulations or torque from the system. The attachments
Reprint requests to: Professor Jeryl D. English, UT-Houston Dental Branch,
6516 M. D. Anderson Blvd., Houston, TX 77030-3402; e-mail, Jeryl.D. were bonded with an interbracket distance of 5 mm for
English@uth.tmc.edu. each segment. This distance was chosen as an average
Submitted, December 2003; revised and accepted, March 2004. clinical interbracket distance. Individual 0.016 ⫻ 0.022-in
0889-5406/$30.00
Copyright © 2004 by the American Association of Orthodontists. archwire specimens were inserted into the system and
doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2004.03.012 engaged by using the passive cover provided by the
110
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Mallory et al 111
Volume 126, Number 1

Table. Codes and manufacturers of 0.016 ⫻ 0.022 in

superelastic wires tested
Code Wire Manufacturer

C27 27°C copper Ni-Ti Ormco, Glendora, Calif

C35 35°C copper Ni-Ti Ormco, Glendora, Calif
C40 40°C copper Ni-Ti Ormco, Glendora, Calif
NH Neosentalloy (240 g) GAC, Islip, NY
NM Neosentalloy (160 g) GAC, Islip, NY
NL Neosentalloy (80 g) GAC, Islip, NY

appliance. The 6 wires tested were C27, C35, C 40

(Ormco), NH, NM, and NL (GAC, Islip, NY).
After each archwire specimen was inserted into the Fig. Force-deflection graph for all wires at 5-mm acti-
system, the canine region of the specimen was chilled vation.
for 3 seconds with a frozen cotton tip applicator and
activated (engaged) to the designated distance (5, 4, or
3 mm). Water heated to 37°C was then added to the widely accepted in orthodontics. Selection of these arch-
system until the specimen was entirely submerged. The wires should be based on their ability to produce a
deactivations were measured and recorded by the test- constant force over differing amounts of deflection. Some
ing machine (Instron, Canton, Mass) with a 5-kg load of these wires have been designed to reach different
cell and a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/min. The deac- amounts of force during their superelastic plateau. For this
tivation from the 3 different distances for each of the 6 reason, the clinician should determine the optimum force
heat-activated superelastic Ni-Ti archwires (Table) was for the type of tooth movement desired.
repeated 10 times. To quantify clinically relevant data, the test design
Means and standard deviations (n ⫽ 10) of the should approximate as closely as possible a clinical
forces generated during deactivation at deflections of situation. Variations in forces have been reported for
2.5, 2.0, and 1.5 mm were calculated. The data were these types of wires depending on the test model or the
analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) (StatView, system design. The testing conditions should be iden-
SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Means were compared by tical to compare data from different studies. Differ-
using Fisher’s protected least-significant difference in- ences such as ligation techniques and dry or wet heat
terval, calculated at the 0.05 level of significance. sources are common variables.14,15,19 This study used a
passive bracket system to limit the influence of friction
RESULTS on the deflection study.21 This allowed the testing
Means and standard deviations of the deactivation machine to more accurately record the forces produced
forces at deflections of 2.5, 2.0, and 1.5 mm were by the archwires. Water, controlled with a thermostat
recorded. These deactivation deflections were selected rather than an oven, was used to heat the specimens to
to statistically compare the activations of 5, 4, and 3 37°C to more closely approximate the clinical environ-
mm of each archwire. The ANOVA of the deactivation ment.15,23,24 Despite the best efforts to replicate a
forces showed significant differences among the wires clinical situation, each study can present unique cir-
(Fig). cumstances. Therefore, it has been suggested that more
Wires C40 and NL were similar in that they had the emphasis should be placed on the rank order of the
lowest deactivation forces. The differences in activa- forces produced by the wires rather than on the actual
tion distances were observed to be as expected: 5 mm value in grams shown in the data tables.19,25
⬍ 4 mm ⬍ 3 mm in most instances. NM varied from An interesting phenomenon occurred during the
the expected reading, with the 4-mm activation signif- deactivation of the 5-mm deflections for all wires tested
icantly less than the 5-mm activation at a distance of (Fig). During the first 0.5 mm of deactivation, there was
1.5 mm. a sharp decline in force production. C40 actually
produced a negative value or hindered movement of the
DISCUSSION canine from 4.5 to 4.0 mm. The combination of a
Due to their unique engagement capability, high severe deflection and the lack of enough heat to
resiliency, and production of continuous forces, the use of transform the wire back to a completely austenitic
heat-activated superelastic Ni-Ti archwires has become phase could explain why this wire did not produce a
112 Mallory et al American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
July 2004

positive force. After 1.0 mm of deactivation, all wires 7. Kusy RP. The future of orthodontic materials: the long-term
began to “recover” and produce increasing amounts of view. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 1998;113:91-5.
8. Brantley WA, Eliades T. Orthodontic materials. Stuttgart, New
force until the 1.5-mm deflection point was reached. York: Thieme; 2001, p. 78 –103.
This explains how the forces for NM during the 5-mm 9. Bradley TG, Brantley WA, Culbertson BM. Differential scan-
activation became significantly higher than the 4-mm ning calorimetry (DSC) analyses of superelastic and nonsuper-
activation at 1.5-mm deflection. elastic nickel-titanium orthodontic wires. Am J Orthod Dentofa-
Filleul and Jordan23 reported not only that forces cial Orthop 1996;109:589-97.
10. Hurst CL, Duncanson MG Jr, Nanda RS, Angolkar PV. An
generated depended on the severity of the deformation, evaluation of the shape-memory phenomenon of nickel-titanium
but also that the crystalline structure and the temperature orthodontic wires. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 1990;98:
transition range (TTR) were equally important. Another 72-6.
study found that the TTR could be shifted to a higher 11. Barwart O. The effect of temperature change on the load value of
temperature in an alloy that forms stress-induced marten- Japanese NiTi coil springs in the superelastic range. Am J Orthod
Dentofacial Orthop 1996;110:553-8.
site during its activation. This would require a higher 12. Meling TR, Odegaard J. The effect of short-term temperature
temperature than expected to transform the stress-induced changes on superelastic nickel-titanium archwires activated in
martensite back to its austenite form. This also means that orthodontic bending. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;119:
the TTR values given by the manufacturers might not be 263-73.
accurate in certain clinical situations.6 It has been sug- 13. Burstone CJ, Qin B, Morton JY. Chinese NiTi wire- a new
orthodontic alloy. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 1985;87:
gested that the stress-related TTR should be evaluated for 445-52.
the wires so that a more accurate clinical selection can be 14. Gurgel JA, Kerr S, Powers JM, LeCrone V. Force-deflection
made.6,26 Ideally, the crystalline structure of the alloys and properties of superelastic nickel-titanium archwires. Am J
the amounts of phase transformation should be confirmed Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;120:378-82.
by either radiographic diffraction or differential scanning 15. Nakano H, Satoh K, Norris R, Jin T, Kaemgai T, Ishikawa F, et
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CONCLUSIONS
16. Oltjen JM, Duncanson MG, Ghosh J, Nanda RS, Currier GF.
This laboratory study compared the force-deflection Stiffness-deflection behavior of selected orthodontic wires. An-
performance of 6 commercially available 0.016 ⫻ gle Orthod 1997;67:209-18.
17. Tonner RIM, Waters NE. The characteristics of super-elastic
0.022-in heat-activated superelastic Ni-Ti archwires. NiTi wires in the three-point bending. Part 1: the effect of
The wires were tested with a device that simulated the temperature. Eur J Orthod 1994;16:409-19.
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edgewise appliance. The results indicated that the wires NiTi wires in the three-point bending. Part 2: Intra-batch varia-
produce various amounts of force at different activation tion. Eur J Orthod 1994;16:421-5.
19. Wilkinson PD, Dysart PS, Hood JA, Herbison GP. Load-
distances. These were rank ordered by significant dif- deflection characteristics of superelastic nickel-titanium ortho-
ferences. C40 and NL produced the least amount of dontic wires. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2002;121:483-95.
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26.
21. Pizzoni L, Ravnholt G, Melson B. Frictional forces related to
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