A comparison of two indirect bonding adhesives

The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the clinical failure rates of the chemically cured composite bonding resin Maximum Cure (MC) and the flowable light-cured resin Filtek Flow (FF) when used in an indirect bonding technique. A total of 112 consecutive patients satisfying the selection criteria were assigned to alternating groups in a split-mouth study design. In Group 1, the maxillary right and mandibular left quadrants were indirectly bonded using MC adhesive, whereas the contralateral quadrants were bonded using FF adhesive. In Group 2, the sides bonded were opposite to those in Group 1. One patient was lost from group 1, so the adjacent patient from group 2 was excluded. Over a six-month observation period, all loose brackets were recorded and the data compared with a Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Of the 2468 brackets placed, 36 with the MC adhesive came loose (2.9% failure rate) compared with 30 in the FF group (2.4% failure rate, P = .95). In the maxillary arch, 12 brackets from the MC quadrants came loose vs 24 in the FF (P = .02). In the mandibular arch, 24 brackets from the MC quadrants came loose during the six-month observation period compared with six from the FF quadrants (P = .03). These results suggest that both adhesives examined in this study (MC and FF) were suitable for the indirect bonding of brackets. The failure rates were low for both adhesives, so either could be recommended for clinical use, the choice being dictated more by operator preference.