ADHESION AND ORTHODONTIC PLASTIC ATTACHMENTS

I should like to stress that bonded attachments are not a panacea for orthodontic treatment. To date, I employ plastic attachments as an adjunct to my orthodontic armamentarium, not as a replacement in toto of metal bands. Philosophies and techniques requiring applications of heavy and adverse directional forces should be modified and redirected in order to employ bonded attachments clinically. To be succinct, light orthodontic forces foster permanency of the adhesive bond. Permanency of the adhesive joint in individual teeth is still a problem, and prolonged saliva immersion tends to weaken the bond strength progressively. Reviewing this article, one can now see that only an integrated adhesive system can be devised to bond attachments to teeth. The adhesive must be congruent with the plastic attachments, the oral environment, the forces of mastication, and the stresses exerted by the arch wires. Now that I have concluded my discussion of the parameters and components that make up the selection of an adhesive system and some of the formidable problems that have been and have yet to be overcome, I should like to point out that the solution of this problem is similar to the solution of many of the problem cases in orthodontics and life itself. We have to make compromises, and there are limitations, but on the whole we do fairly well with what we have to work with. © 1969.