Only fixed orthodontic appliance (FOA) group
tooth
ROTH
The volunteers in the FOA group had ceramic brackets and metal tubes (straight wire, Roth prescription, slot 0.022 × 0.030-inch) passively bonded to their first premolars, second premolars, and first molars on both the maxillary quadrants with Orthocem self-adhesive resin cement (FGM Prod. Odontol. Ltda., Joinville, SC, Brazil) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. With the matrix installed on the teeth, the brackets were positioned at the circular opening located in the middle third of the buccal surface of the teeth. Prior to photopolymerization, the matrix was carefully removed, and the brackets were adjusted with the slots aligned using a rectangular steel archwire (0.018 × 0.025-inches) as a guide, in order to not cause tooth movement. A single operator, who was a specialist in orthodontics, performed all the bonding procedures. The 0.014-inch diameter round cross-section nickel-titanium wires were tied into the slot by using aesthetic ligatures.In this group, accessories were removed after 42 days of treatment. Bracket-removing pliers (GAC, Dentsply, New York, USA) were used to debond the accessories. The remaining resin was removed with a 9-bladed tungsten carbide bur (CB27; Orthometric, Haidian, Beijing, China) in a hand piece at a low speed. Final polishing was performed with gloss paste (Poligloss, TDV, Pomerode, SC, Brazil) using a rubber cup at a low speed for 20 s. Subsequently, the surfaces were washed with water for 20 s and dried for 10 s.