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Abstract: The moments and forces produced by various orthodontic T-loop spring designs were mea-
sured. The effects of dimension changes (within clinically used ranges) and the addition of gable bends
with heat treatment were assessed. Increasing the vertical or horizontal dimension reduced the spring’s
load-deflection rate and its moment-to-force ratio. Gable preactivation with heat treatment had the opposite
effects. (Angle Orthod 2000;70:48–51.)
Key Words: T-loop spring, Force, Moment
RESULTS
According to theory, with geometric and load symme-
FIGURE 2. Schematic showing the shape (not to scale) and di-
mensions of the springs. (The first subscript of ‘‘Tvh’’ refers to the tries, we should have measured negligible Fy. However, due
spring’s vertical dimension, the second is its horizontal dimension.) to slight unavoidable asymmetries, nonzero Fy results were
obtained.13–15 Since these Fy were about 5% of Fx, these
results are not presented. The differences discussed are all
MATERIALS AND METHODS significant (P , .0001 ; .05).
An orthodontist, using 0.016 inch 3 0.022–inch 18-8
T-loop without GPH
stainless steel wire, bent the T-loop springs on a template
jig (Figure 2). The vertical (v) and horizontal (h) dimen- With activation, the average horizontal force, Fx, in-
sions were 6 or 7 millimeters and 6, 7, or 8 millimeters, creased from 1.4 N to 3.8 N (Table 1). At 2 and 3 mm of
respectively. The nomenclature used to identify these clinic activation, increasing the vertical dimension from 6 to 7
suitable springs is Tvh. Thus, the 6 spring geometries are mm reduced Fx by about 10%. At all activation levels,
identified as T66, T67, T68, T76, T77, and T78. For sta- increasing the horizontal dimension from 6 mm produced
tistical reasons, 10 specimens of each design (60 total) were 20% higher Fx. Horizontal dimensions of 7 and 8 mm were
fabricated. The same springs were also tested with 308 ga- different from each other only at 2 and 3 mm activations.
ble preactivation and stress-relieving heat treatment (GPH) The load-deflection rate (ie, the slopes of the Fx versus
at 7008F for 11 minutes followed by bench cooling.12 In activation curves) was approximately 1.2 N/mm (Figure 3).
this way, a parametric study was performed to investigate The moment, Mz, was affected by most design changes
the effects of spring dimensions and GPH. (Table 1). With activation, its average value increased from
FIGURE 3. Instrument designed and built to measure the reaction loads (Fx, Fy, and Mz) on the left bracket with horizontal activation of the
right bracket.
TABLE 1. Spring Characteristics of T-loop Springs without 308 Gable Preactivation and Heat Treatment at Different Horizontal Activation Levels
Fx, N Mz, N-mm Mz/Fx, mm
Dimensional
Variations 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm
T66 1.65 3.15 4.3 8.39 16.16 22.12 5.08 5.13 5.2
T67 1.48 2.85 4.02 7.53 13.5 18.03 5.09 4.75 4.51
T68 1.38 2.63 3.62 6.29 11.99 16.42 4.56 4.56 4.56
T76 1.62 2.84 4.09 7.91 14.06 20.24 5.02 5.01 5.07
T77 1.37 2.56 3.67 6.75 12.42 16.78 4.91 4.84 4.57
T78 1.18 2.24 3.29 5.54 10.08 14.16 4.79 4.55 4.33
Average 1.45 2.71 3.83 7.07 13.04 17.96 4.91 4.81 4.71
approximately 7 to 18 N-mm. Increasing the vertical di- izontal dimension produced about 25% higher Fx than the
mension from 6 to 7 mm lowered Mz by approximately 8 mm at all activations. Stiffness was about 1.4 N/mm.
20% at 2 and 3 mm of activation. Increased horizontal di- The Mz generated by all springs increased with activa-
mension resulted in about a 38% decrease in Mz at all ac- tion (Table 2). Its average magnitude more than doubled
tivations. The bending stiffness increased with activation at from about 9 to 22 N-mm. Increasing the height from 6 to
a rate of approximately 5.5 N-mm/mm. 7 mm lowered Mz by about 14% at all activation levels.
Activation and vertical dimension had insignificant ef- Increased horizontal dimension produced a larger (45%) ef-
fects on the Mz/Fx ratio (Table 1). The ratio did not change fect. Mz increased with activation at about 6.5 N-mm/mm.
from about 4.8 mm. However, the shortest springs (T66 and The highest Mz/Fx ratios were at 1 mm activation. The
T76) generated approximately 10% higher Mz/Fx. loops with the largest horizontal dimension (8 mm) exhib-
ited 17% lower ratios (Table 2). There were no differences
T-loop with GPH at the other activations. With 6 mm horizontal dimension,
the vertical dimension had no effect on Mz/Fx at any ac-
With activation, the average horizontal force, Fx, in-
tivation. The average Mz/Fx ratio was about 5.8 mm. The
creased from approximately 1.5 to 4.3 N (Table 2). Increas-
range for all springs was 5.0–6.8 mm.
ing the vertical dimension from 6 to 7 mm lowered Fx by
about 20% with 2 and 3 mm of activation. The 6-mm hor-
TABLE 2. Spring Characteristics of T-loop Springs with 308 Gable Preactivation and Heat Treatment at Different Horizontal Activation Levels
Fx, N Mz, N-mm Mz/Fx, mm
Dimensional
Variations 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm 1 mm 2 mm 3 mm
T66 1.78 3.39 5.06 11.76 20.27 27.25 6.61 5.98 5.39
T67 1.52 3.09 5.36 10.11 16.56 24.04 6.67 5.37 5.52
T68 1.43 2.84 3.91 7.29 14.04 19.16 5.15 4.96 4.92
T76 1.64 3.03 4.43 10.22 17.1 25.36 6.26 5.65 5.73
T77 1.47 2.54 3.67 8.97 15.15 22.04 6.09 6.01 6.04
T78 1.28 2.47 3.56 6.39 12.25 17.71 5.18 4.96 4.98
Average 1.52 2.89 4.33 9.12 15.90 22.59 5.99 5.49 5.43