Effectiveness of resin-modified glass ionomer vs composite bonding agents for orthodontic bonding: a single-center randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the incidence of bond failures and white spot lesions (WSLs) between brackets bonded with either light-cured resin-modified glass ionomer cement (GC Fuji Ortho LC) or light-cured composite resin (3M Transbond Plus Color Change Adhesive) after 18 months of treatment.

Materials and methods: 90 patients were allocated to the trial, and 84, with a mean age of 16.7 ± 2.6 years, were analyzed. The cross-mouth method was employed in each patient, in which two diagonal quadrants (e.g., upper right and lower left, or vice versa) were randomly assigned to the FujiOrtho group, and the opposite diagonal quadrants to the Transbond group. All patients were monitored for an average of 18 months for bond failure and WSL incidence. Multilevel mixed Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to compare the groups.

Results: Overall, failure rates were 12.9% in the FujiOrtho group and 2.1% in the Transbond group, with an adjusted relative risk (aRR) of 6.21 (95% CI: 3.89-9.94), adjusted for age, sex, maxilla/mandible, tooth position, and treating orthodontist. Overall, WSL incidence was 8.3% in the FujiOrtho group and 8.8% in the Transbond group, with an aRR of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.80-1.13).

Conclusions: Transbond Plus demonstrated a significantly lower bond failure rate compared to GC FujiOrtho LC, with a 3.6 times reduced risk of bracket failure. There were neither statistically nor clinically significant differences in the incidence of WSLs between the two groups.