Background: Minimizing microleakage under orthodontic bracket is essential in decreasing the incidence of the white spot lesion after fixed orthodontic treatment. This study aimed to evaluate microleakage between direct (DB) and indirect (IB) bonding techniques using APCTM flash free, APcTM II and conventional brackets.
Materials and methods: 66 extracted premolar teeth were randomly divided into two equal groups (n= 33) according to the bonding techniques used; direct (DB) and indirect bonding (IB) techniques. Then each group was subdivided randomly into three subgroups (n= 11) according to the used bracket type into; APCTM flash free, APcTM II and conventional. The microleakage was evaluated in each sub group using a stereomicroscope at a magnification of 30X. The data were statistically analyzed using a two-way ANOVA with significance level at P≤ 0.05.
Results: A significant interaction was found between bracket type and bonding technique on microleakage. Assessment of the main effect for bonding technique revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in microleakage between the two bonding techniques in APcTM II and conventional brackets but not in APCTM flash free. Analysis of main effect for bracket type showed a significant difference among the three types. Microleakage was higher in conventional > APcTM II > APCTM flash free in each of the two bonding techniques.
Conclusion: Direct bonding technique showed less microleakage values than indirect bonding technique in APcTM II and conventional brackets but the difference was not of significant difference in APCTM flash free brackets.