RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the bond strength of the laser-etched base bracket, site of bond failure, and evaluate for enamel remnants on the bracket base after debonding, when compared to foil mesh base bracket. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty noncarious, human premolar extracted for the orthodontic treatment were used for this study. The teeth were randomly divided into two groups containing 30 teeth each, which were bonded with laser-etched base bracket and mesh base bracket using light cure resin. The tensile and mechanical bond strength was tested after 24 hours using TIRA. The forces recorded during debonding were measured in Newton and final readings were tabulated in megapascals (MPa). After debonding, the amount of residual adhesive and enamel detachment on the bracket base were assessed according to adhesive remnant index (ARI) and enamel detachment index (EDI) using stereomicroscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. RESULTS: The laser-etched base bracket showed statistically significant higher results than mesh base bracket. Mann-Whitney test indicated that laser-etched base bracket had significantly higher tensile bond strength of 8.47 MPa (SD ± 0.84), fatigue strength of 7.75 MPa (SD ± 0.79) compared to mesh base bracket with tensile bond strength of 5.53 Mpa (SD ± 0.89) and fatigue strength of 5.17 MPa (SD ± 1.15). Adhesive remnant index score indicated that laser-etched base bracket had ARI score of 3 for most of the bracket, when compared to mesh base bracket. This was statistically significant. Enamel detachment index scores indicated that less than 10% of enamel detachment occurred in both the types of brackets, which was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Laser-etched base bracket showed superior bond strength, when compared to the foil mesh base bracket. The site of bond failure of these laser-etched base bracket was at the interface of enamel-adhesive and did not induce any significant enamel detachment. Thus, we can conclude that laser-etched base bracket is a promising step toward achieving an ideal bracket base design for successful bonding.