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Abstract
Objective: To compare the clinical failure rates of bonded first molar tubes with those of cemented bands during fixed appliance therapy.
Design: Prospective randomized controlled clinical trial.
Setting: Two UK hospital orthodontic clinics, February 2001–December 2004.
Participants: Hospital waiting list patients needing fixed appliances (n = 110).
Method: Patients were randomly allocated to two groups. Experimental group patients (n = 55) received single first molar tubes (n = 181) bonded with a no-mix chemically cured composite (Rely-A-Bond) after a 30-second etch. Control group patients (n = 55) were treated with bands (n = 186) cemented with Intact glass ionomer cement (GIC). First-time failures were recorded together with the time of failure. All patients were followed to the end or discontinuation of treatment.
Results: First-time failures: bands = 18.8%; bonds = 33.7 %. Bonded tubes were more likely to fail [RR 2.4; 95% CI (1.4, 4.1)] compared with bands. Experimental group patients also had more bracket failures (P = 0.009), when analysed at patient level.
Conclusion: First molar tubes bonded with Rely-A-Bond composite showed a significantly higher first-time failure rate than bands cemented with Intact GIC.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Drs Serena Derwent and Yvonne Jones for treating some of the patients, the patients who participated in the trial, and Professor Kevin O’Brien for advice. Tatiana Macfarlane would like to thank Paul Norman from the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR) for help with calculating the Townsend index.