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Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate general public's perception, knowledge and preferences on orthodontic treatment rendered by an orthodontist versus the "Do-It-Yourself" orthodontics (DIYO) concept without professional supervision. The secondary objective was to assess laypeople's awareness on the risks and limitations of DIYO., Material and Methods: A 24-question online survey questionnaire was administered to 526 laypeople who had no professional experience or background in dentistry and orthodontics. All data was collected over 3 days (July 20-23, 2020) by Qualtrics server and forwarded to the principal investigator. Statistical analysis was done with statistical software SPSS® version 26., Results: The most important reason for laypeople to opt for DIYO is financial reason. People who have undergone orthodontic treatment know the difference between a general dentist and an orthodontist, whereas people who have not had orthodontic treatment are less likely to know the difference. Of the 285 people who did not receive orthodontic treatment before by a dental professional, 43 have considered DIYO. 122 of the 526 people considered DIYO, and 79 of the 122 had orthodontic treatment before. 26 of the 122 did not consider the clinical exam and diagnostic records important and would be comfortable without in-person supervision. 83 of the 122 would be comfortable not having in-person supervision, and still considered this treatment modality "Doctor-Directed"., Conclusions: The main reason laypeople utilize DIYO is the low cost. Some DIYO users do not consider risks involved and a small percentage consider their own dentist to be responsible if any issues arise with DIYO. One third of survey respondents will consider DIYO in the future. Key words: Do-It-Yourself (DIY), Direct-To-Consumer (DTC), Adult, Orthodontics, Dentistry, Surveys and Questionnaires., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None declared., (Copyright: © 2022 Medicina Oral S.L.)

Background: The objectives of this study was to evaluate the awareness of different ceramic bracket debonding techniques among orthodontists in the USA and the most commonly used debonding technique for ceramic bracket removal., Material and Methods: A survey on preference for debonding and awareness of debonding techniques was emailed to 2,227 members of the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO)., Results: 119 orthodontists completed the survey. 111 responses were included in the study analysis of ceramic bracket users. The most common technique used was mechanical debonding. 86.5% used a specially designed bracket removing plier from the manufacturer. Overall, there were 59.5% of surveyed orthodontists who were aware of electrothermal debonding, 73% were unaware of ultrasonic debonding and 83.8% were unaware of laser debonding. There were more orthodontists with an affiliation with an academic institution aware of electrothermal debonding ( p =0.002). There also was a trend of orthodontists having no affiliation with an institution who were unaware of laser debonding ( p =0.015)., Conclusions: This survey showed that the majority of orthodontists who responded to the questionnaire were unaware of alternative debonding techniques of ceramic brackets. All orthodontists who use ceramic brackets utilized mechanical debonding technique. Key words: Orthodontic ceramic brackets, mechanical, electrothermal, ultrasonic, laser debonding., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None declared., (Copyright: © 2020 Medicina Oral S.L.)

Background: To evaluate the effect of bracket pad shape on shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets bonded to human enamel., Material and Methods: One hundred and five extracted human maxillary permanent molars were divided into 7 groups of 15 specimens per group (n=15). Each group of teeth was bonded with 6 different shaped WildSmiles® brackets (Star, Heart, Soccer ball, Football, Flower, and Diamond) and GAC® rectangle shaped brackets. Shear debonding force was measured with an Instron universal testing machine using a knife-edged chisel 24 hours after initial bonding. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, and range) for each bracket pad shape was calculated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS software version 24.0 was performed with P-value set at 0.05. Post-Hoc Tukey analysis was used to analyze differences among groups. Differences in Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) scores among groups were analyzed using Chi-square test., Results: Debonding force values (N ± SD) ranged from 205.51 ± 49.12 (Star) and 275.96 ± 69.05 (Soccer). SBS values (MPa ± SD) ranged from 13.34 ± 3.18 (Star) and 17.77 ± 6.94 (Rectangle). Even though intergroup comparison of SBS in Newtons revealed statistical significance ( p = 0.014) between Star-Soccer and Star-Football group, it does not have any clinical significance since ranges of SBS of all groups are clinically acceptable. Analysis of ARI scores showed no significant differences in mode of bond failure among groups ( P = 0.82)., Conclusions: Orthodontic bracket pad shape has no effect on SBS and does not affect the mode of fracture pattern. Key words: Shear bond strength, orthodontic bracket, bracket pad shape, orthodontic bracket base shape, adhesive remnant index., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the effect of transillumination techniques to conventional light curing on shear bond strength (SBS) and adhesive remnant index (ARI) of orthodontic stainless steel brackets., Material and Methods: 240 extracted human maxillary incisors, canines and premolars were randomly separated into four control and four experimental groups, based on tooth type. Labio-lingual thickness was measured. Control groups were light cured from buccal surface and experimental groups from lingual surface (transillumination) from four directions (mesial-distal, incisal-direct, direct, mesial-distal-incisal). SBS was measured using an Instron machine and ARI evaluated by microscopic inspection., Results: Mean SBS on maxillary central incisors was lower when cured from lingual side in comparison with buccal side for three light cure directions, but direct cure direction showed nearly equal SBS. Statistical significance was observed for mesial-distal cure direction only. In contrast to central incisors, lateral incisors showed a higher mean SBS when treated from lingual side, for two cure directions (mesial-distal and incisal-direct) with statistical significance observed only for mesial-distal light cure direction. Mean SBS was lower when cured from lingual direction in comparison with buccal direction for all cure directions for canines and premolars. For canines statistical significance was observed for all directions, except incisal-direct; whereas for premolars statistical significance was observed for direct and mesial-distal-incisal directions only., Conclusions: Transillumination is an effective and clinically acceptable light curing technique for bonding orthodontic stainless steel brackets to maxillary central and lateral incisors. For the other teeth groups (canines and premolars) tested, the mean SBS values, using transillumination light curing fell below the acceptable clinical SBS values, indicating that transillumination is not beneficial in light curing brackets on these teeth. Key words: Orthodontic stainless steel bracket, transillumination, shear bond strength., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement:The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exist.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of linear and rotational pre-cure bracket displacement during the bonding procedure on shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets., Material and Methods: Stainless steel orthodontic premolar brackets were bonded to the buccal surfaces of 50 human pre-molars with a conventional two-step bonding protocol. Extracted human pre-molars were divided into 5 groups (n=10/group). In the Control Group, the brackets were bonded with no pre-cure bracket displacement or rotation. The Rotation Group was bonded with 45 degrees of pre-cure rotation. The Displacement Group was bonded with 2mm pre-cure linear displacement. The Rotation-Displacement Group was bonded with pre-cure movements of 45º counter-clockwise rotation and 2mm displacement. The Slippage Group was bonded with 2mm each of mesial and distal pre-cure linear displacement. Photo-activation was carried out on the lateral sides of the bracket. Shear debonding force was measured, 24 hours after initial bonding, with an Instron universal testing machine using a knife-edged chisel. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA test. Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) was scored under 15x magnification. The ARI data was analyzed using the Chi-square test ( p -value < 0.05)., Results: No statistically significant differences were detected among the control and experimental groups ( p = 0.331). The rotation and displacement group showed the highest mean SBS than all other groups. Mean SBS for all groups were above the clinically acceptable range. No statistically significant differences were detected in ARI scores among groups ( p = 0.071)., Conclusions: Linear and rotational pre-cure bracket displacements do not appear to effect the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets. Key words: Shear bond strength, orthodontic bracket, displacement, rotation, adhesive remnant index, pre-cure movement., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement:The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of orthodontic bracket base shape on shear bond strength and adhesive remnant index., Material and Methods: In this in vitro study using 140 bovine incisors, shear bond strength (SBS) of brackets with different base shapes (rectangle, flower, round, heart, diamond, star, and football) were measured with an Instron testing machine and tested until bond failure. Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) scoring was evaluated after debonding to evaluate the location of bond failure. Descriptive and one-way ANOVA post-hoc Tukey statistical analyses were performed with a statistical significance set at p ≤0.05., Results: Statistically significant difference in mean SBS in Newtons was observed for multiple base shapes ( p <0.05). The highest mean SBS (N ± SD) was observed in football and flower base shapes (73.83 N ± 53.46; 65.82 N ± 37.89 respectively); the lowest mean was observed with diamond and heart shapes (30.51 N ± 11.73; 33.28 N ± 16.89 respectively). When reported in Megaspascals, statistically significant difference was observed for rectangle base shape (3.54 MPa ± 2.69) when compared to all other base shapes., Conclusions: Bracket base shape has an effect on SBS. Higher SBS (N) for rectangle, flower, and football base shape indicates even stress distributions throughout the bracket base. Base shape with a pronounced converging tip over the axial plane may contribute to the reduction in SBS due to increased peak stress concentration resulting in bond failure. Key words: Shaped brackets, Shear bond strength, Adhesive remnant index, WildSmiles®., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement:The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.