OrthodonticMaterials.com offers recycled orthodontic materials for dentists.

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The Orthodontic Materials Insider

The Consumer Reports for Orthodontic Materials

Ortho-Cycle

OrthoCycle.com

Newsletter

Dr. Claude G. Matasa

Despite a plethora of information about dentistry, there was no book nor a systematic approach to the subject of orthodontic materials. In 1987, "The Orthodontic Materials Insider", a quarterly newsletter from the industry leader OrthoCycle, a company servicing, buying and selling orthodontic appliances, was the first to take the scarce information on orthodontic materials and start an organized conversation about them.

This newsletter, aimed at orthodontic professionals, was started for many reasons, including that it was a way to showcase Dr. Matasa and his company,OrthoCycle's high degree of competency in high tech knowledge. Moreover, it was also a way to elevate and advertise the idea of recycled orthodontic materials being used. Dentists using certain materials and processes have been amazed at strange results and in the newsletter have actually predicted some materials to be harmful. This newsletter in the last few years has therefore also concentrated on the harmful materials and processes involved. It has been praised by many experts in the field including Tomas Graber, who praised this newsletter for helping Orthodontics by knowing the tools and materials of the trade so well.

What about forks and spoons?

The newsletter does much to challenge the false notions of some:

Recycling: A disgusting procedure where an orthodontist takes bands, brackets, wires, etc. out of one patient’s mouth and “recycles” them to another patient’s mouth via BracesInfo.com [1] and SurgicalServicesInternational.com [2].

How about their dental pliers, cutters, scales and pushers? Do they throw them away and use new ones?!

Reuse of orthodontic products is a continuing problem. It has been estimated that as many as one US orthodontist in three “recycles”. BracesInfo.com [3].

If there’s a “problem,” it’s that only one in three are recycling.

Informed professors are our best customers

No statistically significant differences were found between: (a) the total bond failure rate of recycled and new stainless steel brackets; (b) the upper and lower arches; (c) the anterior and posterior segments. These findings demonstrate that recycling metallic orthodontic brackets can be of benefit to the profession, both economically and ecologically, as long as the orthodontist is aware of the various aspects of the recycling methods, and that patients are informed about the type of bracket that will be used for their treatment. via OxfordJournals.org (PDF) Melsen B et al., European J. Orthod., 2004; 26 (4): 449-454.

The Numbers Grow

The fact that almost 90 per cent of questionnaires were returned suggests a high degree of interest in the subject of recycling at present. Commercial recycling of metallic orthodontic brackets appears to be a widespread practice amongst British orthodontists. Results of the present survey suggest that approximately half of British orthodontists recycle metal brackets and that recycling is more popular amongst specialist practitioners than hospital based consultants. via ManeyJournals.org (PDF) Coley - Smith A, Rock WP, Bracket Recycling — Who Does What? British J.Orthod. 1999; 26 (2): 135-139

An FDA finding of substantial equivalence of your device to the legally marketed devices results in the classification of your device and permits your device to proceed to the market. Department of Health and Human Services resources, FDA, Nov. 27, 1991.

Rebonding had no significant effect on reduction of SBS (shear bond strength). Tungsten Carbide burs are suitable for removing of remaining composite from brackets and enamel surface and finally, chemically recycled brackets had a clinically acceptable SBS. Heravi F, Naseh R, A comparative study between bond strength of rebonded and recycled orthodontic brackets, Dental Res. Journal 2006; 2(2).

Choice References in the Newsletter

Orthodontic Materials Insider is a quarterly dedicated since 1987

He (CGM) also developed a practical recycling process for orthodontic materials that has saved millions of dollars for practitioners and indirectly benefited patients. In the 1980s, the recycling of metallic and ceramic orthodontic biomaterials was in its infancy, and the contribution of heavy metals to environmental pollution was practically ignored. Furthermore, the concept of reusing materials that had been worn by somebody else was repugnant. Ironically, it took the AIDS epidemic to force clinicians and the public alike to pay more attention to sterilization. Indeed, the attachments that survive the rigorous recycling process are less contaminated because for the recycler to remove the adhesive successfully, the carbon-to-carbon bonds in the polymer attached to the bracket must be broken. In the process all microorganisms are killed. Bishara SE, U. of Iowa : Celebrating twenty years of contributions to the science of orthodontic materials (The most prolific scientific contributor to AJO-DO, after T. M. Graber, A. D. 2000), The Orthodontic Materials Insider, December 2007, 19(4):1.

Recycled brackets are not statistically different from the new ones. In NBC’s broadcast of March 9, 1998, some of the information was watered down, omitted, in some cases misrepresented. Fisher T A, e-mail to Ortho-Cycle regarding NBC-TV’s Dateline of February 1998 presentation of his thesis at the Iowa U” “An in vitro comparative study of new and recycled orthodontic brackets”.

Recycled brackets are safe and effective. Poulton D, AAO President. The AAO Bulletin, 1997-1998.

Recycled ceramic brackets have been found to provide shear bond strengths adequate for clinical use. Moreover, they exhibit bond failures mostly at the bracket/adhesive interface, without causing enamel damage Martina A et al.: Recycling effects on ceramic brackets: a dimensional, weight and shear bond strength analysis. European J. Orthod. 1997; 19[6: 629-36].

There is no evidence that any patient has been injured as a result of wearing recycled brackets. The recycling process to which brackets are subjected involves a combination of intense cleaning and heating which effectively decontaminates and sterilizes brackets. Alberta Dental Assoc., Updaters, February 1997, “Recycled orthodontic brackets”.

Recycling produces a bracket indistinguishable from a new one. Vlock RS, In-office bracket reconditioning, J. Clin. Orthod. 1981; 15:635-7.

Bracket recycling, by either chemical or heat treatment methods, when compared to non-treated brackets, shows no significant difference in corrosion potential. Harriot SE, The corrosion susceptibility of the metallic orthodontic bracket/wire interface, Thesis at the Univ. of Louisville , 1994, Louisville KY.

Recycling permits cost reduction. Gorelick L, Bonding, the state of the art. A national survey. J. Clin. Orthod. 1979;13: 39-53.

Orthodontic Materials Insider means to convince the orthodontists that their valuable attachments can be successfully reused

In addition to metal brackets, other studies considered the reuse of ceramic attachments the recycling of which was claimed to provide substantial savings Lew KK, Djeng SK, Recycling ceramic brackets, J. Clin. Orthod. 1990; 24: 44-7

He (CGM) has developed an elevated but practical recycling process for orthodontic appurtenances that has saved millions of dollars for practitioners (and patients) in the cost of their armamentaria. By replacing adhesive’s charring with its dissolution, and metal electropolishing with a method used by manufacturers, burnishing, he has allowed his company, Ortho-Cycle, to be both ISO and CE certified by the prestigious Scandinavian Institute for Dental Materials. Aside from its economic effect, the recycling of stainless steel devices reduces the amount of harmful chromium and nickel ions which, if dumped, pollute our groundwater. Today, even the intrusive and comparatively difficult to sterilize pacemakers and catheters are often recycled. I have personally read the manufacturer letters sent to Professor Matasa, with grudging recognition of his avant-garde discoveries. Graber TM: Happy Birthday, Claude, The Orthod. Materials Insider, March 2005, vol. 17 (1): 1.

As expected, orthodontic suppliers were not about to watch this upstart cut into their sales. They countered with everything from labeling their brackets “Single Use Only” to outright lawsuits, when in 1996 Ormco/Sybron sued for patent infringement. The Orthodontic Manufacturers Association (OMA) had six years earlier also brought pressure to bear with a Fight Back segment on NBC-TV attempting to frighten the public away from accepting recycled brackets, but the AAO reported receiving few consumer calls....Not only were they deemed safe and effective, but Ortho-Cycle was given a CE mark by the prestigious Scandinavian Institute of Dental Materials. Today the company stands at the forefront of bracket reconditioning with more customers than ever, despite stiff competition Wahl N. AAO’s Historian, The Orthodontic Materials Insider 2006; 18 (3): 3-4.