Superficial hardness and the metallographic characteristics of straight-wire base brackets

Luciana de Paula GONTIJO, Enio Tonani MAZZIEIRO, Janes LANDRE JÚNIOR

The objective of this study was to compare the supericial hardness and the metallographic characteristics of the bases of straight-wire brackets. Brackets from four different manufactures were utilized: Morelli, Abzil Lancer, Unitek and A-Company. The supericial hardness test revealed that the A-Company bracket base had the highest value (314 HV) followed by Unitek (325 HV), Abzil (230 HV) and Morelli (192 HV). The presence of variable amounts of chrome, nickel, silicon, copper, aluminum, sulfur and niobium was detected by the spectrometer. The quantity of each element varied according to the brand tested and did not interfere with the quality of the alloy. This variance was most likely due to differences in the process of the fabrication of each manufactures.

Keywords: Brackets. Base brackets. Hard Vickers. Metalography.

Saturday, April 27, 2024 13:39