Objective: To compare the amount of expressed frictional resistance between orthodontic self-ligating brackets and conventionally ligated brackets in vitro as reported in the literature.
Methods: Several electronic databases (Medline, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) were searched without limits. In vitro studies that addressed friction of self-ligating brackets compared with conventionally ligated brackets were selected and reviewed. In addition, a search was performed by going through the reference lists of the selected articles to identify any paper that could have been missed by the electronic searches.
Results: A total of 70 papers from the electronic database searches and 3 papers from the secondary search were initially obtained. After applying the selection criteria, only 19 papers were included in this review. A wide range of methods were applied.
Conclusions: Compared with conventional brackets, self-ligating brackets produce lower friction when coupled with small round archwires in the absence of tipping and/or torque in an ideally aligned arch. Sufficient evidence was not found to claim that with large rectangular wires, in the presence of tipping and/or torque and in arches with considerable malocclusion, self-ligating brackets produce lower friction compared with conventional brackets.