Effects of fast halogen and plasma arc curing lights on the surface hardness of orthodontic adhesives for lingual retainers

The aims of this study were to (1) identify the optimum cure times of 2 different lingual retainer adhesives with a conventional halogen, a fast halogen, and a plasma arc light by measuring Vickers surface hardness, and (2) determine whether different lights produce similar surface hardness values for the same adhesive resin material. The investigated plasma arc curing unit was the PowerPac (American Dental Technologies, Corpus Christi, Tex), and the fast halogen unit was the Optilux 501 (Kerr, Orange, Calif). A conventional curing unit, the Ortholux XT (3M Dental Products, St. Paul, Minn) was used as the control. Two orthodontic lingual retainer adhesives were used: Transbond Lingual Retainer (3M Unitek, Monrovia, Calif) and Light Cure Retainer (Reliance Orthodontic Products, Itasca, Ill). Concise (3M Dental Products) and diluted Concise were used as controls. Transbond Lingual Retainer was polymerized by the PowerPac light in 6 seconds, by the Optilux in 10 seconds, and by the conventional halogen light in 20 seconds. The minimum curing times for Light Cure Retainer adhesive were 15 seconds for PowerPac, 10 seconds for Optilux, and 40 seconds for conventional halogen. Surface hardness values for each resin did not differ significantly with different curing units. However, different adhesives demonstrated significantly different surface hardness values. Final Vickers surface hardness values (averaged across curing units) of Transbond Lingual Retainer, Concise, diluted Concise, and Light Cure Retainer were 62.8, 52.4, 46.0, and 40.4, respectively. Plasma arc or fast halogen units polymerize resin composite adhesive in much shorter times than do conventional curing units, without a significant loss in surface hardness. Therefore, these units are suggested for clinical use to save chairside time.