Aim: The current study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the surface wear of same configuration of attachments in patients during clear aligner therapy using two different types of aligner materials.
Materials & Methods: 20 lower 1st premolars on the same quadrant from 20 patients were recruited in the study. They were divided randomly into 2 groups (10 per group) one group treated with PETG aligner materials & the other treated with TPU aligner materials. Both groups had vertical composite attachment. The scans were taken just after bonding the attachments T0 and after 4 months T1. The volume of the attachments was calculated and analyzed.
Results: Both materials showed significant drop in size volume between the two time points (p-value: <0.001), PET-G was significantly associated with larger difference. The mean drop in volume was -3.9 mm3 in the PET-G group compared to only -2.5 mm3 in the TPU group (p-value: 0.016)
Conclusion: PETG aligner material causes more attachment surface wear and attachment damage than TPU aligner material