Abstract :
Comparison of the corrosion rate of nickel-titanium and copper nickel-titanium archwires in artificial saliva and after its exposure to the oral environment. 48 distal ends of nickel-titanium archwires and 48 distal ends of copper nickel-titanium archwires were divided into two equal groups: the first was left unused, the second group was exposed to the oral environment of 12 volunteers for 3 weeks. Then, an electronic corrosion velocity locator, Model 1359 from ACM Instruments, was used to analyze the electrochemical corrosion velocity of the studied samples. The study showed that there is no significant difference in the velocity of electrochemical corrosion between the two types of archwires studied with respect to the round archwires; While there was a significant difference in the velocity of electrochemical corrosion between the two types in rectangular archwires, in the upper rectangular wires the corrosion of copper nickel-titanium archwires was greater than that of the nickel-titanium archwires, and in contrast to the lower rectangular wires where the corrosion velocity of the nickel-titanium archwires was greater and difference was significant in comparison to nickel titanium copper archwires. Both types of the studied archwires were affected by the oral environment, as they showed a decreasing in the velocity of electrochemical corrosion.
