The efficacy of a plasma arc light in orthodontic bonding: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Objective: To evaluate the clinical performance of a plasma arc light (Ortho LITE, 3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA, USA) against a conventional tungsten–quartz halogen curing light (Visilux 2, 3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA, USA) for direct orthodontic bonding. Design: A single centre prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting: The Orthodontic Department at St Luke’s Hospital, Bradford, UK. Subjects and methods: Forty-three consecutive patients requiring fixed appliances from the orthodontic waiting list. A split mouth technique was adopted; with quadrants randomly assigned to either the plasma arc light or the conventional halogen curing light and bonded directly with APC pre-adjusted edgewise brackets (3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA, USA). Main outcome measure: Bracket failures. Secondary outcome measures: Time taken to bond-up the appliances, patient sensitivity or discomfort during curing and time to replace failed brackets were investigated. Results: No statistically significant difference in bracket failur...