@article{3059154,
    title = "ATR-FTIR analysis and one-week stress relaxation of four orthodontic aligner materials",
    author = "Jaggy, F. and Zinelis, S. and Polychronis, G. and Patcas, R. and Schätzle, M. and Eliades, G. and Eliades, T.",
    journal = "Biomedical Materials (Bristol)",
    year = "2020",
    volume = "13",
    number = "8",
    publisher = "MDPI AG",
    doi = "10.3390/MA13081868",
    keywords = "Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy;  Optical data storage;  Optical microscopy;  Plastic bottles;  Supersaturation, ATR-FTIR microscopies;  Attenuated total reflection fourier transform infrared;  Chemical compositions;  Clinical efficacy;  Polarized illumination;  Polyethylene terephthalate glycols;  Rectangular strips;  Relaxation behaviors, Stress relaxation",
    abstract = "The aim of this study was to estimate possible differences in the chemical composition and relaxation of orthodontic aligner materials. Four commercially available thermoplastic materialsCAM (Scheu-Dental, Iserlohn, Germany), COP (Essix, Dentsply Raintree Essix Sarasota, FL, USA), DUR (Great Lakes Dental Technologies, Tonawanda, NY) and ERK (Erkodent Erich Kopp, Pfalzgrafenweiler Germany) were included in this study. Rectangular strips from each material were prepared according to the manufacturer's instructions and subjected to attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and stress relaxation characterization. The reduction in applied stress (RAS) after one week was estimated and statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA at the 0.05 level of significance. All specimens were subjected to optical microscopy before and after stress relaxation testing under transmittance polarized illumination. ATR-FTIR microscopy revealed that all materials are made of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) while no significant differences were identified in RAS values among materials tested, which ranged from 6%-10% (p 0.05). All samples illustrated the developments of shear bands during relaxation testing according to optical microscopy findings. The tested materials illustrated similar chemical composition and relaxation behavior and thus no differences in their clinical efficacy are anticipated. © 2020 by the authors."
}