MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE 78:926934 (2015)

In Vitro Sliding-Driven Morphological Changes in

Representative Esthetic NiTi Archwire Surfaces
SAMJIN CHOI,1 DONG-JIN PARK,2 KYUNG-A KIM,2 KI-HO PARK,2 HUN-KUK PARK,1 AND
YOUNG-GUK PARK2*
1
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea
2
Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea

KEY WORDS esthetic NiTi wire; coating materials; in vitro sliding test; tensile-strength tes-
ter; surface roughness

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study investigated the effects of sliding on the ultrastructure of
three representative esthetic superelastic 0.014 inch nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires. Methods:
Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and light microscopy were used to estimate
the surface roughness of archwires and bracket systems. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was
used to estimate the molecular differences between coated and uncoated areas. A combination of
four different types of 0.014 inch metallic wires and two different types of 0.022 inch 3 0.028 inch
conventional brackets were evaluated by in vitro sliding tests using a novel self-made tensile-
strength tester with a miniature load cell and syringe pump. The NiTi wires included an uncoated
R
NiTi archwire (CO group), epoxy resin-coated NiTi archwire (ER group), TeflonV-coated NiTi arch-
wire (TF group), and Ag/biopolymer-coated NiTi archwire (AG group). The brackets included con-
tained stainless steel (SS) and ceramic (CE) brackets. Results: Both ER and TF wire groups
exhibited less surface roughness than CO wire groups. The AG group showed the highest surface
roughness compared with the others because of its silver particles (P<0.001, ANOVA test). In vitro
sliding tests led to a significant increase (P < 0.001, ANOVA test) in the surface roughness of all
0.014 inch NiTi wires regardless of bracket type. The wire groups combined with SS brackets were
rougher than those of CE brackets regardless of the coating materials because of exfoliation of the
coating materials. The TF-SS group showed the highest increase (fivefold) in surface roughness com-
pared to the others, while the ER groups showed the lowest increase (1.4-fold) in surface roughness
compared with the others (P < 0.001, ANOVA test). Conclusions: The results suggested that the
sliding-driven surface roughness of superelastic NiTi archwires is directly affected by coating mate-
rials. Although the efficiency of orthodontic treatment was affected by various factors, epoxy resin-
coated archwires were best for both esthetics and tooth movement when only considering surface
roughness. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:926934, 2015. V 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
C

INTRODUCTION wires include esthetics, strength, resilience, biocom-

Recently, most patients with malocclusion prefer
treatment with orthodontic appliances and improved
esthetics (Elayyan et al., 2010). Novel orthodontic
wires with various coating materials have been devel-
oped and are now commercially available. Ion implan-
tation and polymer coating is the representative
technique for improving the esthetic quality of ortho-
dontic wires. Since ion-implanted wire is refined by
ionized atoms that are incorporated into its surface
because of their high energy, it undergoes surface mod-
ification without forming a coating layer. Polymer coat-
ing is usually applied through an atomizing process to
employ clean compressed air as a transport medium
R Received 17 June 2015; accepted in revised form 23 July 2015
for atomized TeflonV particles. The deposited layer is
2025 lm thick and tooth-colored. After heat process-
ing, the layer showed a closed, finely structured sur-
face (Husmann et al., 2002; Rongo et al., 2013).
In the esthetic archwires, patients prefer the
polymer-coated (white-coated) wire because of its supe-
rior esthetics. The criteria for evaluating orthodontic
patibility, flexibility, toughness, low friction, high
springback, poor biohosting, and expandability (Kusy,
1997). Elayyan et al. (2008) showed that coated
superelastic wires require significantly smaller forces
to load and unload compared with the conventional
superelastic NiTi wires. To achieve the same perform-
ance, coated wires are constructed from a wire with
Abbreviations: AFM, atomic force microscopy; ANOVA, analysis of variance;
EDX, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy; LM, light microscopy; SEM, scan-
ning electron microscopy.
*Correspondence to: Young-Guk Park, D.M.D., Ph.D. Department of Ortho-
dontics, College of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, 26, Kyungheedae-ro, Dong-
daemun-gu, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea. E-mail: medchoi@khu.ac.kr
Samjin Choi and Dong-Jin Park contributed equally to this paper.
REVIEW EDITOR: Prof. George Perry
Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this
article.
Contract grant sponsor: Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea
(Korean Health Technology Research & Development Project); Contract grant
number: HI14C2241.
DOI 10.1002/jemt.22557
Published online 17 August 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

C
V 2015 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.
 ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ESTHETIC NITI AW SURFACES
TABLE 1. Specification of one control and three esthetic 0.014 inch NiTi archwires
Archwires Coating materials
CO None (control)
ER Epoxy resin
R
TF TeflonV
AG Ag/biopolymer
R
V
Abbreviations: CO, control; ER, epoxy resin; TF, Teflon ; AG, Ag and biopolymer.
TABLE 2. Specification of two 0.022 inch 3 0.028 inch brackets used
Brackets Composition
SS Stainless steel
CE Ceramic
Abbreviations: SS, stainless steel; CE, ceramic.
slightly smaller diameter. This finding is consistent
with our previous result (Ryu et al., in press) that the
metallic diameter of wire inside the coating layer is
smaller than that of the uncoated part.
The frictional force between orthodontic appliances
directly affects the performance of orthodontic treatment.
Several factors, including archwires, brackets, archwire-
bracket interface, and saliva, are related to this friction
(Choi et al., 2011, 2012a,2012b). Generally, orthodontic
treatments are governed by the first law of friction,
Ffriction 5l  F
where l indicates friction coefficient and F indicates
force required to ensure wire and bracket adherence.
In particular, l depends on wire roughness and physi-
cal characteristics (DAnto et al., 2012). The surface
roughness of orthodontic wires is a critical factor in
determining the efficiency of tooth movements. Our
previous finding showed that there is a direct correla-
tion between frictional force and surface roughness on
orthodontic wires (Choi et al., in press).
Clinicians are reluctant to use esthetic wires
because of high friction between the wire and bracket
slot. Wire roughness increases when its coating layer
is deteriorated or dislodged. This leads to decreased
orthodontic tooth movement. Da Silva et al. (2013)
showed that the coating layer of esthetic wires had low
stability and was nondurable after oral exposure. The
residual coating layer showed severe deterioration and
a significant increase in surface roughness. In a previ-
ous study (Ryu et al., in press), we investigated the
effects of various white coating materials on the sur-
face roughness and load-deflection curve of
commercially-available orthodontic NiTi wires. Three-
point bending tests and atomic force microscopy (AFM)
assessments were used to evaluate load-deflection
properties and surface roughness, respectively. A
three-point bending test in the buccolingual plane sim-
ulating first-order wire deflection to the lingual side
was performed. However, this approach had low repro-
ducibility and inaccurate results because of the man-
ual loading method. Therefore, the surface roughness
of esthetic wires should be evaluated through a
tensile-strength machine to apply load-guided force.
In this study, we examined in vitro changes in the
surface roughness of representative esthetic NiTi
wires before and after sliding movements using a self-
Microscopy Research and Technique
927
Product name Company Country
R
V
Sentalloy Tomy Japan
UltraestheticTM
R
G&HV Wire company USA
Perfect Hubit Korea
Dany aesthetic silver Dany BMT Korea
Product name Company Country
GAC International Inc. USA
Crystalline MB Tomy Japan
made tensile-strength tester. The eight wires were
combined with four different types of 0.014 inch metal-
lic wires and two different types of 0.022 inch 3 0.028
inch conventional stainless steel (SS) and ceramic (CE)
brackets. These were examined with light microscopy
(LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-
dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and AFM assess-
ments. In brief, the surface properties of four 0.014
inch NiTi wires, including conventional metallic wire
and three representative esthetic NiTi wires, were
evaluated in the study. The uncoated wire type,
(1) R
SentalloyV NiTi wires (Tomy, CO group) were selected
for reference purposes. UltraestheticTM NiTi wires
R
(G&HV Wire Company, ER group) were coated with
epoxy resin with a coating layer thickness of 0.05 mm
(Alavi and Hosseini, 2012). Perfect NiTi wires (Hubit,
R
TF group) were coated with TeflonV by an atomizing
process using cleaned compressed air as the transport
R
medium for atomized TeflonV particles (Farronato
et al., 2012). Dany aesthetic silver wires (Dany BMT,
AG group) were a double-layer coating structure with
silver-and-platinum (inner) and parylene (outer) (Ryu
et al., in press). This study was performed with the fol-
lowing three hypotheses: (1) the sliding tests with
brackets led to an increase in the surface roughness;
(2) the white-coated NiTi wires were softer than
uncoated NiTi wire; (3) the superelastic NiTi archwires
combined with polymer brackets were rougher than
those combined with metallic brackets.
METHODS
Materials
In this study, there were eight experimental groups
formed by combination with four different types of
0.014 inch metallic wires (Table 1) and two different
types of 0.022 inch 3 0.028 inch conventional brackets
(Table 2). The four types of orthodontic NiTi wires
(Fig. S1, Supporting Information) contained an
R
uncoated NiTi archwire SentalloyV (Tomy, Shinmachi,
Japan) and three types of as-received white-coated
NiTi archwires, including epoxy resin-coated NiTi
archwire UltraestheticTM (G&HV Wire Company,
R
R
Greenwood, IN, USA), TeflonV-coated NiTi archwire
Perfect (Hubit, Seoul, Korea), and Ag/biopolymer-
coated NiTi archwire Dany aesthetic silver (Dany
BMT, Seoul, Korea). The two types of orthodontic
brackets (Fig. S2, Supporting Information) contained
SS bracket (GAC International Inc., Bohemia, NY,
928
Fig. 1. Novel self-made tensile-strength tester with miniature load cell and syringe pump. Scale
bar 5 50 mm (Fig. S3, Supporting Information). [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is
available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
USA) and CE bracket Crystalline MB (Tomy, Shinma-
chi, Japan). The properties of NiTi wires before the in
vitro sliding test were used as basal values.
In Vitro Sliding Test
A self-made tensile strength tester (Fig. 1A) consist-
ing of a 5,000 g miniature load cell 247ST-5kg
(KYOTO, Uijeongbu, Korea) with a weight indicator
KBS-205 and a syringe pump (KD Scientific Inc., Hol-
liston, MA) was used to apply force to orthodontic
appliances. The two different orthodontic brackets
were attached to acryl blocks utilizing dental adhesive
Transbond XT (3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA) and were
then combined with four wire groups (Fig. S4, Sup-
porting Information). Each group was pulled across
the brackets at a speed of 15 mm/min for 15 sec (Lee
et al., 2010a). After the sliding test, brackets and wires
were separated. The surface and molecular character-
istics of each wire were measured by the following
assessments.
Surface Analysis
LM images were used to macroscopically observe
morphological changes in esthetic NiTi wire surfaces.
The surface of each wire was captured by an Olympus
BX51 reflected light microscope equipped with an
INFINITY1 CMO digital camera (Electron Microscopy
Science, Hatfield, PA) at 1003 magnification. No imag-
ing processing for compensation was applied to the LM
images.
SEM images were also used to microstructurally
observe morphological changes in esthetic NiTi wire
surfaces. Each specimen was immobilized on a brass
stub with double-sided tape before sequential vacuum
coating with carbon and gold. The surface of NiTi arch-
wires was observed with S-4700 field emission SEM
(FE-SEM; Hitachi Co, Tokyo, Japan) at an accelerating
voltage of 10 kV.
Molecular Analysis
EDX spectroscopy was used to molecularly observe
the composition difference between coated and
uncoated areas of esthetic NiTi wires. A Hitachi S-
4700 (Hitachi Co) collected EDX spectra with beam
voltage of 10 kV at 5003 magnifications from three
S. CHOI ET AL.
randomly selected areas of each sample. The speci-
mens were analyzed at several local foci to ensure
chemical homogeneity.
Ultrastructure Analysis
Tapping-mode AFM topographical images of esthetic
NiTi wire surfaces were obtained using a NANOS N8
NEOS (Bruker, Herzogenrath, Germany) equipped with
a 42.5 3 42.5 34 lm3 XYZ scanner and two Zeiss optical
microscopes Epiplan 2003/5003 (Carl Zeiss Inc., Stand-
ort Gottingen-Vertrieb, Germany). External noise was
eliminated by placing the AFM device on an active
vibration isolator TS-150 (S.I.S., Herzogenrath, Ger-
many) inside a passive vibration isolator (Pucotech,
Seoul, Korea). The nominal tip radius and height were
<10 nm and 1216 lm, respectively. The surfaces of
load-guided sliding tested wires were scanned in air
with a size of 20 3 20 lm2 at a resolution of 256 3 256
pixels and a scanning speed of 0.4 lines/sec. AFM
tapping-mode topographical imaging was performed at
room temperature and with 35% relative humidity
using a silicon cantilever with an integral pyramidal
shaped tip SICONG (Santa Clara, CA, USA). Topo-
graphical imaging in AFM tapping-mode was performed
at 5-minute intervals. Data acquisition and image pre-
processing, such as the planification process, were per-
formed using a Scanning Probe Image Processor SPIP
version 4.8 (Image Metrology, Lyngby, Denmark). To
identify morphological changes in esthetic NiTi wire
surfaces, two surface roughness parameters, including
the arithmetic average of the image height [Savg, Eq.
(2)] and the height difference between the highest and
lowest pixels in the image [Spp, Eq. (3)], were calculated
using MATLAB (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA).
XN
1 M21 X21
Savg5 jZxm ; yn j (2)
MN m50 n50
Spp5Zmax 2Zmin (3)
where Z indicates height in the M3N rectangular
image. These roughness values were represented as
mean 6 standard deviation (SD) of the five replicates.
Microscopy Research and Technique
 ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ESTHETIC NITI AW SURFACES
Fig. 2. FE-SEM images of intact (A) CO, (B) ER, (C) TF, and (D) AG groups with beam voltage of 10
kV at (top) 2003 and (bottom) 5003 magnification.
Statistics
The data were quantitatively expressed by
mean6SD. Statistical analyses were performed by
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare
changes in the surface roughness of wires according to
different types of brackets and coating materials. Addi-
tional post-hoc comparisons were performed with
Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) tests wherever appro-
priate. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered stat-
istically significant.
RESULTS
LM And SEM
The morphology of intact orthodontic wires was
observed by LM and SEM assessments. From LM find-
ings (Fig. S5, Supporting Information), the uncoated
NiTi wires (CO group) showed irregular surfaces with
several scratches. However, two esthetic NiTi wires
(ER group and TF group) had relatively smooth and
homogeneous surfaces compared with other groups.
The AG group had an uneven surface because of Ag
and polymer biomaterials. The TF group had the low-
est surface roughness, followed by the ER group, CO
group, and TF group. FE-SEM findings (Fig. 2) with
10-kV beam voltage showed a pattern similar to LM
findings. Some debris was observed in all wire groups.
Each esthetic NiTi wire showed distinctive surface
characteristics according to the coating biomaterials.
Figure 3 shows representative FE-SEM images of
orthodontic metallic wires after in vitro sliding tests
through SS or CE brackets. Conventional NiTi wire
showed a slight scratch on the surface while all
esthetic NiTi wires showed peeling-off of the coating
materials with in vitro sliding tests. In particular,
wires combined with the SS brackets showed more pro-
nounced exfoliation compared with the CE brackets
(not shown).
Microscopy Research and Technique
929
EDX Spectroscopy
Figure 4 shows the EDX-based composition of four
0.014 inch orthodontic wires before and after in vitro
sliding tests. The EDX data of the CO group showed a
higher presence of Ni and Ti elements regardless of
bracket type: Ni (55.16 wt%), Ti (38.25 wt%), and C
(6.59 wt%). The three esthetic NiTi wires showed dif-
ferent composition characteristics according to coating
biomaterials. C (64.63 wt%) had a peak at 0.3 keV, O
(24.72 wt%) had a peak at 0.5 keV, and Ti (10.66 wt%)
had peaks at 0.45 and 4.5 keV for the ER group (epoxy
resin). O (33.47 wt%) had a peak at 0.5 keV, Ti (30.36
wt%) had peaks at 0.45, 4.5, and 4.9 keV, C (27.50
wt%) had a peak at 0.3 keV, Al (2.09 wt%) had a peak
at 1.5 keV, and Si (6.57 wt%) had a peak at 1.8 keV for
R
the TF group (TeflonV). C (82.03 wt%) had a peak at
0.3 keV and Cl (17.97 wt%) had peaks at 0.2, 2.6, and
2.8 keV for the AG group (Ag/biopolymer). After the in
vitro sliding test, corresponding EDX spectra showed a
higher presence of Ni and Ti elements because of exfo-
liation of the coating materials. Ni (37.65 wt%) had a
peak at 0.85 keV, Ti (30.90 wt%) had peaks at 0.45, 4.5,
and 4.9 keV, C (28.74 wt%) had a peak at 0.3 keV, and
O (2.71 wt%) had a peak at 0.5 keV for the ER group.
Ni (57.85 wt%) had a peak at 0.85 keV, Ti (35.54 wt%)
had peaks at 0.45, 4.5, and 4.9 keV, and C (6.61 wt%)
had a peak at 0.3 keV for the TF group. Interestingly,
the AG group showed a higher presence of silver, with
Ag (92.33 wt%) peaks at 2.55 and 3.0 keV and S (1.10
wt%) peaks at 2.3 and 2.45 keV. The CO groups showed
no changes in composition elements.
Atomic Force Microscopy
Figure S6 (Supporting Information) shows represen-
tative tapping-mode AFM 2D topographical images of
the CO, ER, TF, and AG groups before and after in
vitro sliding tests. Each group was estimated through
the following three conditions. Before the sliding test
(intact NiTi wires), the surface of the TF group had the
930 S. CHOI ET AL.
Fig. 3. FE-SEM images of (A) CO-SS/CE, (B) ER-SS/CE, (C) TF-SS/CE, and (D) AG-SS/CE groups
after in vitro sliding tests at (top) 2003 and (bottom) 5003 magnification.
lowest surface roughness compared with the other
samples. The average roughness was
Savg 5 25.7 6 2.9 nm (Table S1, Supporting Informa-
tion) and the peak-to-peak height roughness was
Spp 5 377.6 6 19.3 nm (Table S2, Supporting Informa-
tion), followed by the ER group, CO group, and AG
group. In particular, the AG group had the highest sur-
face roughness, with roughly ten-fold average rough-
ness (Savg 5 249.9 6 16.7 nm) and five-fold peak-to-
peak height roughness (Spp 5 1861.3 6 128.5 nm) com-
pared with the ER group. The four groups showed sig-
nificant differences within each group (P < 0.001,
ANOVA test). Post-hoc comparison (SNK test,
P < 0.05) revealed that the CO metallic wires and the
ER coating wires had the strongest surface roughness
differences compared with TF and AG coating wires.
The F-ratio of the ANOVA test was 621.7 for Savg and
358.7 for Spp.
After in vitro sliding tests with SS brackets, all NiTi
wires showed a pattern similar to intact NiTi wires.
The surface of the ER-SS group had the lowest surface
roughness compared with the other groups, with
Savg 5 53.5 6 0.7 nm and Spp 5 779.5 6 33.4 nm. CO-
SS metallic wires and TF-SS coating wires had similar
roughness findings. Similar to the findings of as-
received wires, AG-SS wires the highest surface rough-
ness, with Savg 5 433.5 6 130.8 nm and
Spp 5 3328.2 6 749.9 nm. The four groups showed sig-
nificant differences within each group (P < 0.001,
ANOVA test). A post-hoc comparison also showed strong
differences in surface roughness. The ANOVA test F-
ratio showed Savg 5 992.93 and Spp 5 153.50. After the
in vitro sliding test with CE brackets, the surface of the
TF-CE group showed the lowest surface roughness
among the four NiTi wires (Savg 5 31.3 6 3.3 nm and
Spp 5 498.4 6 153.7 nm), followed by the ER-CE group
and CO-CE group. The AG-CE group showed the high-
est surface roughness with Savg 5 364.0 6 7.6 nm and
Spp 5 2,585.7 6 102.8 nm. The four groups showed sig-
nificant differences (P < 0.001, ANOVA test) with strong
differences (post-hoc comparison, P<0.05) among each
group. The corresponding F-ratio was 942.22 for Savg
and 643.28 for Spp.
AFM tapping-mode topographical 3D images (Fig. 5)
provided details of changes in the ultrastructure of
esthetic NiTi wire surfaces according to different coat-
ing materials.
DISCUSSION
Different sliding mechanic-applied superelastic NiTi
coating wires were analyzed using a self-made tensile-
strength tester with a miniature load cell and syringe
pump. The developed tensile-strength tester could also
be used as a three-point bending test to evaluate the
properties of materials. This device automatically
saved the deflection and force data for wires during
the experiments. This load-guided automatic method
led to stable and consistent findings for in vitro sliding
tests compared with manual force loading.
The surface characteristics of materials are rou-
tinely investigated through the surface profilometry,
LM, and SEM. However, surface profilometry cannot
measure surface defects adjacent to the scan line, and
it is an invasive procedure. LM is too sensitive to sur-
rounding light and conditions, and it sometimes does
not acquire any information regarding the surface.
SEM only gives qualitative information regarding the
surface characteristics of samples. AFM overcomes the
above-mentioned drawbacks while determining quan-
titative values for investigated parameters. Further-
more, AFM does not require additional preparation
treatments such as metallization, and it produces topo-
graphical 3D images in real space with high resolu-
tion. The critical drawback of AFM is small scan size,
which is associated with slow scanning velocity imped-
ing complete analysis of the sample. Nevertheless,
AFM is considered a promising technique for evaluat-
ing the surface qualities of dental materials
Microscopy Research and Technique
 ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ESTHETIC NITI AW SURFACES 931

Fig. 4. EDX spectra of (A) CO, (B) ER, (C) TF, and (D) AG groups before sliding tests, and (E) ER-SS/
CE, (F) TF-SS/CE, and (G) AG-SS/CE groups after sliding tests. Insets indicate measuring points on
each group. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]

(Kakaboura et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2010a; Ryu et al., in
press). AFM has three differing operation modes: con-
tact mode, tapping mode, and noncontact mode. The
contact mode is best to image rough samples and pro-
vides high-resolution images. However, because con-
tact mode results in distorted image features, tapping
mode was selected in this study.
In this study, the surfaces of as-received archwires
were investigated by LM, SEM, and AFM. The two
white-coated NiTi wires (ER group and TF group)
were not rougher than uncoated NiTi wire (CO group).
This result was consistent with the findings of other
studies (Iijima et al., 2012; Ryu et al., in press). The
R
roughness of the epoxy resin, TeflonV, and Ag/biopoly-
mer-coated NiTi wires was less than that of noncoated
wires. Some studies revealed that because the coating
process leads to decreased material surface roughness,
it improves wire sliding (Husmann et al., 2002; Wichel-
haus et al., 2005). The AG group was significantly
rougher than other groups. This property was likely
caused by the sliver particles present in the coating.
Silver particles exhibited a bead form, as clearly shown

Microscopy Research and Technique

932
Fig. 5. AFM tapping-mode 3D topographical images of intact CO, ER, TF, and AG groups and those
combined with SS and CE brackets. Scale bar 5 5lm. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue,
which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
in the corresponding microscopic images. After in vitro
sliding tests, the roughness of all NiTi wires increased
significantly with both polymer (CE) and metallic (SS)
brackets (Bradley et al., 2014). Most previous studies
showed that the coating led to improved frictional
resistance between the wire and brackets. This finding
was consistent with the ER group in this study. The
surface roughness of epoxy resin-coated wires was
lower than that of uncoated wires, regardless of
bracket type. Farronato et al. (2012) reported that
R
TeflonV-coated archwires showed less friction than
uncoated archwires. This study showed two patterns
R
such that the mean roughness of TeflonV-coated wires
was lower than that of uncoated wires, whereas the
R
peak-to-peak roughness of TeflonV-coated wires was
higher than that of uncoated wires. This finding indi-
R
cates that the TeflonV coating process leads to lower
roughness overall compared with uncoated wires. This
coating process also results in surface characteristics
with instantaneous peaks. The AG group showed that
coated wires had higher surface roughness than
uncoated wires, regardless of the bracket type. The
high roughness of AG-SS/CE groups was responsible
for the use of rough silver particles, as observed by
LM, SEM, and AFM techniques.
S. CHOI ET AL.
Most studies reported that wires combined with CE
brackets were rougher than those combined with SS
brackets (Lee et al., 2010b). However, the present
study showed opposite results. The sliding application
combined with CE brackets led to greater surface
roughness than with SS brackets. Regarding Savg
parameters, the TF-CE group showed the lowest sur-
face roughness (31 nm) whereas the AG-SS group
showed the highest surface roughness (433 nm).
Regarding Spp parameters, the TF-CE group showed
the lowest surface roughness (498 nm) while the AG-
SS group showed the highest surface roughness
(3,328 nm). This finding is likely responsible for exfoli-
ation of the coating materials. Our previous study
(Ryu et al., in press) on load-deflection experiments
with white-coated wires showed that wires combined
with CE brackets were rougher than those combined
with SS brackets. There was no exfoliation in either
wire. However, this study showed exfoliation of all
wires. Therefore, the lower fictional characteristics of
the coating materials disappeared. Due to recent
advances in the manufacturing technology of various
CE brackets, the surface of CE brackets is not always
rougher than that of metallic brackets. Cha et al.
(2007) showed that the frictional resistance of silica-
Microscopy Research and Technique
 ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN ESTHETIC NITI AW SURFACES
inserted CE brackets is comparable to that of conven-
tional SS brackets. Crystalline MB brackets that were
silica-inserted CE brackets were used in this study.
The influence of the surface quality of orthodontic
appliances on friction production remains controver-
sial. Generally, the frictional force between wires and
brackets is considered a negative factor that influences
normal tooth movement during sliding mechanics
(Doshi and Bhad-Patil, 2011). Our previous study
(Choi et al., in press) revealed a correlation between
surface roughness and friction, but orthodontic tooth
movement is a very complex process correlated to a
number of critical factors. Lower wire-surface rough-
ness might be not sufficient to induce a low frictional
coefficient. Further studies are needed to fully evalu-
ate wire roughness and the various factors related to
friction. Actual frictional coefficients and ultrastruc-
tural alternations between as-received and retrieved
archwires should also be evaluated.
In this study, it was hypothesized in in vitro sliding
tests resulted in an increase in the surface roughness
(hypothesis 1). The polymer-coated (white-coated)
0.014 inch wire had a lower surface roughness com-
pared with the uncoated 0.014 inch wire (hypothesis
2). The combinations with ceramic brackets led to
more morphological changes in superelastic NiTi arch-
wires than those with metallic brackets (hypothesis 3).
These findings confirmed hypotheses 1 and 2, but dis-
proved hypothesis 3. It is significant that this study
provides a new, simple method to examine the effects
of orthodontically intraoral environment-mimicked
sliding-driven mechanisms on the surface roughness
of superelastic NiTi archwires using multimodal inves-
tigation methods. Several limitations in this study are
noteworthy. Firstly, this study is in vitro study by self-
made tensile-strength tester with a miniature load cell
and syringe pump. The teeth and their surrounding
structures respond to the force by a complex biologic
cascade. Furthermore, intraoral-based tooth move-
ment is associated with many some factors. Although
these factors directly affect the efficiency of orthodon-
tic treatments, this study did not consider these fac-
tors. Therefore, in vivo study with the intraloral-used
samples is absolutely needed. The actual frictional
coefficient and mechanostructural alternation between
as-received and clinical-retrieved archwires will be
also evaluated (Ryu et al., in press). Secondly, our
experiment was conducted on a small sample size. It
will be also necessary to examine the surface rough-
ness with respect to the combinations of archwire and
bracket types, such as round or rectangular, and arch-
wire materials including NiTi or TMA, in each stage of
the orthodontic treatment. This can help determine
the relevant clinical implications of these findings.
CONCLUSIONS
This study investigated the effects of various coating
materials on the surface roughness of commercially
available orthodontic superelastic NiTi wires. The slid-
ing effects on eight archwire-bracket systems were
investigated by combining four different types of 0.014
inch metallic wires and two different types of 0.022
inch 3 0.028 inch conventional brackets. The effects
were studied using three microscopic techniques and
R
one spectroscopic technique. One uncoated SentalloyV
Microscopy Research and Technique
933
0.014-inch NiTi archwire and three esthetic 0.014-inch
NiTi archwires, including epoxy resin-coated Ultraes-
theticTM NiTi archwire (ER group), TeflonV-coated Per-
R
fect NiTi archwire (TF group), and Agbiopolymer-
coated Dany aesthetic silver NiTi archwire (AG group),
were used as representative wires. SS and CE brackets
were used as representative brackets. Both ER and TF
wire groups exhibited less surface roughness than CO
wire groups, while the AG group showed the highest
surface roughness compared with the others because
of silver particles. In vitro sliding tests led to a signifi-
cant increase in the surface roughness of all 0.014 inch
NiTi wires regardless of bracket type. The wire groups
combined with SS brackets were rougher than those
combined with CE brackets regardless of coating mate-
rial because of exfoliation of the coating materials. The
TF-SS group showed the highest increase (fivefold) in
surface roughness compared with the others, while ER
group showed the lowest increase (1.4-fold) in surface
roughness compared with the others. These results
indicate that the surface roughness of 0.014-inch NiTi
wires is directly affected by coating materials and com-
bined bracket systems.
REFERENCES
Alavi S, Hosseini N. 2012. Load-deflection and surface properties of
coated and conventional superelastic orthodontic archwires in con-
ventional and metal-insert ceramic brackets. Dent Res J (Isfahan)
9:133138.
Bradley TG, Berzins DW, Valeri N, Pruszynski J, Eliades T, Katsaros
C. 2014. An investigation into the mechanical and aesthetic proper-
ties of new generation coated nickel-titanium wires in the as-
received state and after clinical use. Eur J Orthod 36:290296.
Cha JY, Kim KS, Hwang CJ. 2007. Friction of conventional and
silica-insert ceramic brackets in various bracket-wire combina-
tions. Angle Orthod 77:100107.
Choi S, Park KH, Cheong Y, Kim HK, Park YG, Park HK. 2011.
Changes in ultrastructure and properties of bracket slots after
orthodontic treatment with bicuspid extraction. Scanning 33:25
32.
Choi S, Joo HJ, Cheong Y, Park YG, Park HK. 2012a. Effects of self-
ligating brackets on the surfaces of stainless steel wires following
clinical use: AFM investigation. J Microsc 246:5359.
Choi S, Lee S, Cheong Y, Park KH, Park HK, Park YG. 2012b. Ultra-
structural effect of self-ligating bracket materials on stainless steel
and superelastic NiTi wire surfaces. Microsc Res Tech 75:1076
1083.
Choi S, Hwang EY, Park HK, Park YG. 2015. Correlation between
frictional force and surface roughness of orthodontic archwires.
Scanning, in press. DOI: 10.1002/sca.21225.
DAnt o V, Rongo R, Ametrano G, Spagnuolo G, Manzo P, Martina R,
Paduano S, Valletta R. 2012. Evaluation of surface roughness of
orthodontic wires by means of atomic force microscopy. Angle
Orthod 82:922928.
Doshi UH, Bhad-Patil WA. 2011. Static frictional force and surface
roughness of various bracket and wire combinations. Am J Orthod
Dentofacial Orthop 139:7479.
da Silva DL, Mattos CT, Sim~ ao RA, de Oliveira Ruellas AC. 2013.
Coating stability and surface characteristics of esthetic orthodontic
coated archwires. Angle Orthod 83:9941001.
Elayyan F, Silikas N, Bearn D. 2008. Ex vivo surface and mechanical
properties of coated orthodontic archwires. Eur J Orthod 30:661
667.
Elayyan F, Silikas N, Bearn D. 2010. Mechanical properties of coated
superelastic archwires in conventional and self-ligating orthodon-
tic brackets. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 137:213217.
Farronato G, Maijer R, Cara MP, Esposito L, Alberzoni D, Cacciatore
G. 2012. The effect of teflon coating on the resistance to sliding of
orthodontic archwires. Eur J Orthod 34:410417.
Husmann P, Bourauel C, Wessinger M, J ager A. 2002. The frictional
behavior of coated guiding archwires. J Orofac Orthop 63:199211.
Iijima M, Muguruma T, Brantley W, Choe HC, Nakagaki S, Alapati
SB, Mizoguchi I. 2012. Effect of coating on properties of esthetic
orthodontic nickel-titanium wires. Angle Orthod 82:319325.
934 S. CHOI ET AL.
Kakaboura A, Fragouli M, Rahiotis C, Silikas N. 2007. Evaluation of
surface characteristics of dental composites using profilometry,
scanning electron, atomic force microscopy and gloss-meter.
J Mater Sci Mater Med 18:155163.
Kusy RP. 1997. A review of contemporary archwires: Their properties
and characteristics. Angle Orthod 67:197207.
Lee GJ, Park KH, Park YG, Park HK. 2010a. A quantitative AFM
analysis of nano-scale surface roughness in various orthodontic
brackets. Micron 41:775782.
Lee TH, Park KH, Jeon JY, Kim SJ, Park HK, Park YG. 2010b.
Changes in surface roughness of bracket and wire after experimen-
tal slidingPreliminary study using an atomic force microscopy.
Korean J Orthod 40:156166.
Rongo R, Ametrano G, Gloria A, Spagnuolo G, Galeotti A, Paduano S,
Valletta R, DAnto V. 2013. Effects of intraoral aging on surface prop-
erties of coated nickel-titanium archwires. Angle Orthod 84:665672.
Ryu SH, Lim BS, Kwak EJ, Lee GJ, Choi S, Park KH. Surface ultra-
structure and mechanical properties of three different white-coated
NiTi archwires. Scanning, in press. DOI: 10.1002/sca.21230.
Wichelhaus A, Geserick M, Hibst R, Sander FG. 2005. The effect of
surface treatment and clinical use on friction in NiTi orthodontic
wires. Dent Mater 21:938945.
Microscopy Research and Technique