In vitro study reveals that mandibular movements influence force loss of elastics during speech, indicating specific elastics are more effective.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the number and capacity of words spoken daily influence the decay of force of the latex intermaxillary elastics in the orthodontic treatment. Material and Methods: Latex elastic bands from the company Morelli (Dental Morelli Ortodontia®, Sorocaba, Brazil) were selected and divided into 16 equal groups, tested on two experimental devices that simulate jaw movements during speech, and compared using the Student’s t -test. Results: The average decay of elastic bands after 24 h is 18.64%, with a maximum of 23.70% and a minimum of 13.57%. The 3/16” (light and medium) and 1/4” light elastics showed greater force decay in the cyclic test. The 1/4” medium and 5/16” elastics (light and medium) showed greater decay in the static test. Conclusion: The results suggest that the 1/4 (medium) elastic is the most suitable for use regardless of the period, while the 1/8 (light and medium) was not suitable for use during speech due to the risk of tearing.
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Mendes et al. (2025) studied this question.
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