Evaluation of the effect of immersion periods in the artificial saliva on the surface roughness of three types of or-thodontic arch wires groups

Aims: To evaluate the effect of immersion periods in artificial saliva on the surface roughness of an arch wire. Materials and Methods: The roughness of three types of orthodontic arch wires: stainless steel (SS), titanium molybdenum alloy (TMA) and composite coated wire (CC) were first measured at dry condition then incubated in artificial saliva at 37 o C with saliva pH (7.25) for different immersion periods (1, 14 and 28 days). Then the surface roughness was measured by using Taylor Hobson Profi-lometer (Talysurf type 10). Results: There was a significant increase in surface roughness of the three types of wires during the first day of immersion but as the immersion periods increased, it showed a non significant difference in the roughness of SS and TMA. The roughness of CC however, increased. Conclusions: It was concluded that the surface roughness of SS and TMA wires increased during the first day of immersion, such increase is not significant after that, while in case of CC, as the immersion periods increase the surface roughness significantly increased.