'The Angle Orthodontist (EH Angle Education & Research Foundation)'
Doi
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the cytotoxicity of nickel-titanium (NiTi) esthetic orthodontic archwires
with different surface coatings.
Materials and Methods: Three fully coated, tooth-colored NiTi wires (BioCosmetic, Titanol
Cosmetic, EverWhite), two ion-implanted wires (TMA Purple, Sentalloy High Aesthetic), five
uncoated NiTi wires (BioStarter, BioTorque, Titanol Superelastic, Memory Wire Superelastic, and
Sentalloy), one b-titanium wire (TMA), and one stainless steel wire (Stainless Steel) were
considered for this study. The wire samples were placed at 37uC in airtight test tubes containing
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (0.1 mg/mL) for 1, 7, 14, and 30 days. The cell viability of
human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) cultured with this medium was assessed by the 3-(4,5-
dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Data were analyzed by a twoway analysis of variance (a 5 .05).
Results: The highest cytotoxic effect was reached on day 30 for all samples. The archwires
exhibited a cytotoxicity on HGFs ranging from “none” to “slight,” with the exception of the
BioTorque, which resulted in moderate cytotoxicity on day 30. Significant differences were found
between esthetic archwires and their uncoated pairs only for BioCosmetic (P 5 .001) and
EverWhite (P , .001).
Conclusions: Under the experimental conditions, all of the NiTi esthetic archwires resulted in
slight cytotoxicity, as did the respective uncoated wires. For this reason their clinical use may be
considered to have similar risks to the uncoated archwires. (Angle Orthod. 0000;00:000–000.
