Force Decay of Various Brands of Elastomeric Ligatures: A Longitudinal Study

Evaluation of the force decay of three different brands of elastomeric ligatures Materials and methods: Sixteen patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment were a part of this study. The clear elastomeric ligature modules supplied by three different manufacturers formed the three study groups. The modules were applied with 19 * 25 SS wires in place. Each elastomeric module was placed in the patient’s mouth on the specified lower incisor brackets and the force levels were calculated before placement, at 24 hours after placement, 7 days and 21 days after the placement of the modules using a universal testing machine. Results: Group II elastomeric ligatures exhibited highest mean force levels followed by Group I and Group III. significant difference was observed between the three groups at all the time intervals. Conclusions: Group II exhibited significantly high mean force levels at all the time intervals that were tested followed by group I and Group III. Group II elastomeric ligatures exhibited markedly less percentage of decay rate in force applied when compared to Group I and Group III