Grain Structure and Surface Roughness of Four Commercial NiTi Orthodontic Archwires

This study investigated four commercially available NiTi orthodontic archwires from different manufactures for their grain structure and surface roughness.Four commercially available pre-formed NiTi orthodontic archwire (Ormco, Sentalloy, Highland and NIC) with diameter 0.016 x 0.022 inch2 were tested. The wire samples were polished and etched to evaluate the morphology and structure of wire surface. Each NiTi archwire was investigated under a reflected light microscope of an Optical Microscope to analyze its grain structure and size, in longitudinal surfaces. The surfaces of wire were qualitatively examined in the secondary electron mode at common magnification (500X). The surface roughness was also evaluated by a surface roughness tester. The descriptive statistic was evaluated the mean and standard deviation of surface roughness and Medcale T-Test was to test the mean difference of the surface roughness in each brands. This study showed an average grain size of 2-8 μm for each NiTi archwire. The wire surface of Ormco and Highland showed straiations along the longitudinal axes, however Sentalloy and NIC showed small pores on the wire surface. The surface roughness was 0.09 μm for Highland, 0.25 μm for Sentalloy, 0.28 μm for Ormco and 0.46 μm for NIC archwire. The Highland was smoothest and NIC was the roughest. There were in significant (p < 0.05) difference of surface roughness of each brands. The results showed that the four manufactures NiTi archwires were different in grain size, wire surface and surface roughness. During clinical application, these archwires may exhibit different mechanical properties, such as strength, hardness, ductity, and friction because of their microstructure.