Wear comparison of thermoplastic materials used for orthodontic retainers

Clear thermoplastic retainers are an alternative to fixed lingual retainers and removable Hawley appliances. However, thermoplastic retainers have demonstrated poor wear resistance and durability after only a few months of use. In this study, a simulated wear device was used to compare the wear of different thermoplastic materials used for orthodontic retainers. Three thermoplastic products were evaluated: C+ (Raintree Essix, New Orleans, La), .040-in Invisacryl C (Great Lakes Orthodontics, Towanda, NY), and .040-in TR sheet material (Bay Dental Direct, Bay City, Mich). Twenty specimens were fabricated for each group. The specimens were vacuum thermoformed according to the manufacturers' recommendations and subjected to wear for 1000 cycles in a wear apparatus with steatite ceramic abraders. Depth of wear was determined by surface profilometry. The maximum peak-to-valley measurement was recorded for each specimen. Mean wear (SD) in microns was as follows: C+, 5.9 (2.4); Invisacryl C, 6.1 (2.6); and TR, 1.6 (0.9). One-way analysis of variance detected a significant difference between groups ( P < .001). TR material, a hard polyethylene terephthalate glycol copolymer (PETG), demonstrated greater resistance to wear than did the other 2 materials, which were softer, polypropylene-based thermoplastics. There was no evidence to suggest a difference in mean wear between the 2 polypropylene-based materials ( P > .05).