Original Article

Orthodontic Latex Elastics:

A Force Relaxation Study
Christiana Giokaa; Spiros Zinelisb; Theodore Eliadesc; George Eliadesd

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Abstract: The objectives of this study were to assess the force relaxation of latex elastics
occurring within 24 hours of extension and to estimate the extension required to reach the reported
force. Five specimens of various manufacturers’ latex elastics size and force levels were mounted
on a custom-made setup capable of monitoring force levels in real time with a continuous mode
and without operator intervention. The percentage of force relaxation was estimated from the initial
and 24-hour levels, and the results were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and the
Tukey test at a 5 0.05 level of significance. The elastics showed force relaxation in the order of
25%, which consisted of an initial high slope component and a latent part of decreased rate. Most
relaxation occurred within the first 3–5 hours after extension, regardless of size, manufacturer, or
force level of the elastic. The overall as well as the initial relaxation curves were fitted to equations,
which described the variation of force with time. Elastic extension to achieve the reported force
was found to range between 2.7 and five times the original length. Latex elastics show force
relaxation in the order of 25%, which consists of an initial high slope component and a latent part
of decreased rate. Most relaxation occurs within the first 3–5 hours after extension, regardless of
size, manufacturer, or force level of the elastic. The empirical rule of ‘‘3’’ shows remarkable var-
iation, ranging from 2.7 to five. (Angle Orthod 2006;76:475–479.)
Key Words: Orthodontic; Latex; Elastics; Force; Relaxation; Extension

INTRODUCTION oral cavity for longer periods, which may exceed 3

weeks. However, studies on this issue have shown a
Mechanotherapy in orthodontics often involves the high force decay rate, which consists of two slopes:
use of interarch latex elastics to correct sagittal dis- an initial rapid force relaxation and a latent decay of a
crepancies or vertical elastics to improve the interdig- decreased slope. The initial high-slope decay rate oc-
itation of teeth. Whereas these auxiliaries are replaced curs within 3–4 hours after extension of the material,
on a daily basis, a concern associated with their use whereas the less steep curve follows for the rest of the
pertains to the force relaxation of the materials. examination period.1–7 Therefore, it is possible that the
In the relevant literature, most efforts have focused relaxation of latex elastics follows the same pattern,
on assessing the force-time characteristics of chains
and thus, the daily renewal of these auxiliaries may
mainly because these are expected to function in the
not prevent a force-decay phenomena.
Apart from the potential importance of relaxation of
a
Research Fellow, Department of Biomaterials, School of elastics, a question exists regarding the required ex-
Dentistry, University of Athens, Greece. tension of elastics to achieve the force reported by the
b
Lecturer, Department of Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, manufacturer. At present, there is an empirical rule
University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
c
Associate Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of
(rule of ‘‘3’’), which indicates that the elastics exert the
Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Athens, Greece. reported force at an extension of 300% of their diam-
d
Professor and Director, Department of Biomaterials, School eter. Nonetheless, the validity of this proposal has
of Dentistry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. been seriously questioned and the force levels may
Corresponding author: Dr. Spiros Zinelis, Department of Bio- vary with the size and force level of the elastics.7–9
materials, School of Dentistry, University of Athens, 2 Thivon
Street Goudi, Athens, GR 11527, Greece The hypothesis tested in this study was that the re-
(e-mail: [email protected]) laxation of elastics as well as the extension required
Accepted: June 2005. Submitted: June 2005.
to produce the force reported by the manufacturer are
Q 2006 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, material dependent. Therefore, the purpose of this
Inc. study was to assess the force relaxation of latex elas-

475 Angle Orthodontist, Vol 76, No 3, 2006

476 GIOKA, ZINELIS, T. ELIADES, G. ELIADES

TABLE 1. The Latex Elastics Included in the Study real time and with a continuous data collection mode
Size(diameter) Force (Figure 1). The main components of this assembly
Code Inches (mm) oz (g) Manufacturer were a 2-kg load cell (RS components 632-736, RDP
I 3/16 (4.8) 4.5 (128) Ortho Technology, Fla Electronics, Wolverhampton, UK) connected with a
II 3/16 (4.8) 6.5 (184) Ortho Technology, Fla strain gauge and an amplifier (RS components 846-
III 1/4 (6.4) 3.5 (99) Glenroe, Fla 171), a power source unit and a machine vice. On
IV 1/4 (6.4) 4.5 (128) Ortho Technology, Fla extension of the elastic, by opening the vice jaw, there
V 5/16 (7.9) 6 (170) ORMCO, Glendora, Calif
VI 3/8 (9.5) 3.5 (99) Glenroe, Fla
is a change in the voltage, which is magnified by the

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VII 3/8 (9.5) 4.5 (128) Glenroe, Fla amplifier and sensed by the strain gauge unit of the
assembly. The assembly was connected to a signal-
conditioning unit (E307-3 RDP Electronics), linked to
tics occurring within 24 hours of extension and to es- a computer with a data logging software (Picolog tech-
timate the extension required to reach the reported nology systems, Cambridgeshire, UK) via an ADC-16
force. (Analog to Digital Converter) multichannel data acqui-
sition unit.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Recording of force for the entire period of study was
performed in real time, without any operator interfer-
The latex elastics included in the study are shown ences and under a continuous mode, at 15-second
in Table 1. The initial inner diameter of five specimens intervals. Because the method of recording involves
of each group was measured with a digital caliper (Mi- millivolt units possessing a negative sign, the data
tutoyo, Tokyo, Japan). For this purpose, the elastic’s should be transformed to gain physical meaning, and
initial inner diameter was taken as reference, and the this is achieved by multiplying them by 21. The cali-
distance was measured in millimeters. Each specimen bration of force unit (grams) with millivolt units was
was extended to the level that the elastic exerted the performed by extending a specimen to increasing
force reported by the manufacturer with an accuracy lengths to produce various loads in the order of mag-
of 1 g. nitude exhibited by the elastics tested. These loads
To assess the relaxation of elastics, a portable test were measured with a dynamometer, and the selec-
assembly was developed to monitor the force exerted tion of grams as opposed to Newton units was based
from an extended elastic during the testing period, in on the familiarity of clinicians with this units.

FIGURE 1. The testing assembly used for the study of force relaxation of elastics.

Angle Orthodontist, Vol 76, No 3, 2006

RELAXATION OF ORTHODONTIC LATEX ELASTICS 477

TABLE 2. Force Relaxation at 24 Hours of Latex Elastics and Ex-

tension Required to Achieve Reported Force
% Force
Relaxation
Extension to Tukey
at 24 Hours
Achieve Reported Force Groupinga
Code 3 Diameter Mean (SD) for Relaxation
I 2.7 25.4 (3.20)
II 2.7 23.02 (1.62) A

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III 3.0 27.49 (0.95) A
IV 3.0 24.08 (1.90) A
V 5.0 28.70 (2.03) A
VI 2.6 29.26 (7.25) A FIGURE 3. Representative relaxation curve fitting for the entire pe-
VII 3.0 22.74 (0.54) A riod of study (24 hours) of a latex elastic.
a
For force relaxation data, means with same letters are not sig-
nificantly different at the a 5 0.05 level.

FIGURE 4. Relaxation curve fitting for the initial steep component

FIGURE 2. Representative force relaxation curve for a 3/16-inch, (4 hours).
4.5-oz latex elastic specimen.

curve could be separated in two distinct components:

From each specimen, the percentage of force relax- a high initial rate and a lower slope part. The first,
ation (%R) was obtained as follows which represents a rapid force loss, seems to take
place within the first 3–4 hours after extension.
Fo 2 Ft The percent relaxation of the materials included in
%R 5 100 3
Fo the study is shown in Table 2. No statistical difference
was found for the force decay, which at the end of 24
where
hours reached levels in the order of 25%.
Fo: initial force (reported by the manufacturer) Figure 3 presents the curve fitting and correspond-
Ft: force at 24 hours. ing equation for a representative 24-hour relaxation
curve. The equation describing the 24-hour relaxation
results is y21 5 0.010 1 3.69x0.5 (r 2 5 0.96), whereas
Relaxation curve fitting was performed with the rel- the initial steep component of the curve (Figure 4) is
evant software (TableCurve 2-D, SPPS, Chicago, Ill). better described by the equation y 5 a 1 bx0.5 (r 2 5
The relaxation of the five specimens of each group 0.98).
was averaged, and the results were analyzed with
one-way analysis of variance. Further group differenc- DISCUSSION
es were investigated with the Tukey’s multiple com-
The results of this study imply that force relaxation
parisons test at a 5 0.05 level of significance.
of elastics is a material-dependent parameter because
size and force did not have a significant effect on vary-
RESULTS
ing the extent of force decay. Caution should be ex-
Table 2 (second column) shows the extension re- ercised in applying these results to elastomeric (syn-
corded, under which the reported force was achieved. thetic elastic) materials. In synthetic elastics, such as
Although most of the elastics show a value of 2.7–3.0, elastomers, the force, which tends to retract the ex-
in two cases this ratio was found to be as high as five. tended specimen to its original length, arises from the
In Figure 2, a representative force-time curve of macromolecular chain entanglements, ie, interconnec-
elastic is demonstrated, where it is evident that the tion of chains. On the contrary, in natural rubbers such

Angle Orthodontist, Vol 76, No 3, 2006

478 GIOKA, ZINELIS, T. ELIADES, G. ELIADES

as latex, the retracting force is because of the covalent zontal direction varies with the cosine of the angle
bonding and cross-linking of chains. The major struc- formed by the force vector. Thus, for a 100-g force
tural differences between natural rubber and synthetic elastic stretched as in the case of Class II pull and
elastics may account for a different long-term perfor- small sagittal dimension of archers, the angle formed
mance of nonlatex elastics. is increased. For a 608, angle the cosine is 0.5, and
Recently, a number of studies comparing the me- therefore, the horizontal constituent of the force is F
chanical properties and relaxation characteristics of la- cos 608 or 50 g. According to the results of this study,
tex and nonlatex elastics have demonstrated a vastly at the end of the 24-hour period and because of the

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different time-related mechanical performance of non- initial steep decline in force, roughly after 3–5 hours
latex materials. In general, nonlatex elastics have after extension, the elastic would present 20–25% re-
been shown to present more force decay over time laxation. Therefore, the force applied between the ca-
than latex elastics.8,9 It has also been proposed that nine and first molar in the horizontal direction would
various environmental factors, such as moisture and be diminished to 37.5–40 g. In addition, the vertical
heat, could have different and probably more negative component of the force would be high, which makes
effects on synthetic elastics because of differences in the application of interarch pull in this case undesir-
structure.9 able, because of the associated extrusion of teeth, a
This study used an experimental configuration, fact that may be especially detrimental in hyperdiver-
which facilitated continuous data recording in real time gent facial patterns.
and without any intervention by the operator. In the The above discussion is indicative of the inefficiency
past, the force exerted at various extensions was mea- of the system, which under specific circumstances,
sured with several setups such as a dynamometer. A fails to deliver the applied load. The situation is differ-
typical experimental configuration used by several in- ent when the angle formed is small, for example 308,
vestigators involved stretching of the elastics with the as in the case of attaching the elastic to second molar
aid of a custom-made frame. The elastic was period- as opposed to the first. Then the initial horizontal con-
ically detached from the frame, and the force required stituent of the force applied is 86 g and the relaxed
to restretch it was recorded with a dynamometer or a force at the end of 3- to 4-hour period 50–60 g. To
tensometer.4–6 This method allowed for the study of
minimize relaxation, patients may be instructed to
force decay in a controlled environment by simply im-
change the elastics twice daily.
mersing the whole frame in various media and con-
Moreover, taking into account that the aging in the
trolling the environmental variables such as tempera-
intraoral environment exerts potent effects on the elas-
ture and pH. This facilitated the opportunity to reveal
tic, it is expected that the relaxation would be higher
the effect of several environmental factors on the me-
and the force applied at the end of the 3- to 4-hour
chanical properties of the elastics.
period further decreased. This is because the oral cav-
On the other hand, the method suffers from two ma-
ity, which includes a wide array of potent aging factors
jor weaknesses: first, it fails to allow for the collection
such as pH fluctuations, temperature variation, and
of continuous data because the force is only periodi-
enzymatic or microbial action, may constitute a vastly
cally recorded, and thus noncontinuous data is used
to construct the force relaxation curves, inducing some different aging profile for the material, altering its me-
unavoidable approximation. The second and probably chanical properties. In general, in vitro approaches in
more critical weakness relates to the excessive han- assessing the mechanical performance of biomaterials
dling of the specimens and repeated extensions of the have been proven to underestimate the extent and se-
same specimen at different time intervals to record verity of effects induced during intraoral aging in al-
force loss. This process may induce fatigue of the ma- loys, plastics, and ceramics.10,11
terial, precluding a reliable extrapolation of the extent In general, force relaxation of elastics has been
of relaxation. studied in the literature through numerous setups and
The results of this study show a remarkable de- in many environments and protocols involving dry or
crease in the force applied by the elastic within the wet testing states including water, artificial saliva, or
first 3–5 hours, whereas a 20–25% decrease was not- fluoride media,12 with varying temperatures, decreas-
ed for the 24-hour period. An additional factor, which ing or steady force application,13 and acidic or neutral
further diminishes the force applied with these auxil- pH.14,15 In vivo aged elastomerics, on the other hand,
iaries, relates to the biomechanical setup formulated have shown a pattern involving adsorption of protein-
in the interarch application of elastics in Class II and aceous species, which later become calcified.11 The
Class III cases. Considering an elastic specimen ex- interaction of multifactorial aging variables in the oral
tended from a canine to the first molar, it is evident cavity has not been elucidated and remains unknown.
that the functional constituent of the force in the hori- Simultaneous variation of temperature, pH, and cyclic

Angle Orthodontist, Vol 76, No 3, 2006

RELAXATION OF ORTHODONTIC LATEX ELASTICS 479

mechanical loads, may have different effect than the 2. Wong AK. Orthodontic elastic materials. Angle Orthod.
each parameter isolated. 1976;46:196–205.
3. Bales TR, Chaconas SJ, Caputo AA. Force-extension char-
Also, water has been found to induce plasticization acteristics of orthodontic elastics. Am J Orthod. 1977;72:
through release of substances from the elastic, ab- 296–302.
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terial, leading to lowering of the glass transition tem- with elastics involved with intra-arch molar to molar forces.
Angle Orthod. 1970;40:151–158.
perature and free energy for crack initiation. Lipid ab-
5. Ash JL, Nikolai RJ. Relaxation of orthodontic elastomeric
sorption in the oral cavity effectively alters the reactiv- chains and modules in vitro and in vivo. J Dent Res. 1978;

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and increasing water sorption.11 This study showed 6. Bishara SE, Andreasen GF. A comparison of time related
relatively high and probably clinically important 24- forces between plastic Alastiks and latex elastics. Angle Or-
thod. 1970;40:319–328.
hour force decay, although it was carried out in an in 7. Kanchana P, Godfrey K. Calibration of force extension and
vitro dry environment. The aforementioned environ- force degradation characteristics of orthodontic latex elas-
mental factors, such as moisture, temperature varia- tics. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2000;118:280–287.
tion, or microbial activity, could not be evaluated in the 8. Russel KA, Milne AD, Khanna RA, Lee JM. In vitro assess-
present experimental setup. ment of the mechanical properties of latex and non-latex
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Further studies assessing the relaxation and force 120:36–44.
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ical conditions. latex orthodontic elastics. Angle Orthod. 2003;73:181–186.
10. Eliades T, Eliades G, Brantley WA, Watts DC. Aging of or-
thodontic auxiliaries and utilities. In: Eliades G, Eliades T,
CONCLUSIONS Brantley WA, Watts DC, eds, Dental Materials in vivo: Aging
and Related Phenomena. Chicago, Ill: Quintessence; 2003:
• Latex elastics show force relaxation in the order of 155–177.
25%, which consists of an initial high slope compo- 11. Eliades T, Eliades G, Watts DC. Structural conformation of
nent and a latent part of decreased rate. in vitro and in vivo-aged orthodontic elastomeric modules.
• Most of the relaxation was shown to occur within the Eur J Orthod. 1999;21:649–658.
12. Von Fraunhofer JA, Coffelt MTP, Orbell GM. The effect of
first 3–5 hours after extension, regardless of size, artificial saliva and topical fluoride treatments on the deg-
manufacturer, or force level of the elastic. radation of the elastic properties of orthodontic chains. An-
• The empirical rule of ‘‘3’’ indicating that the reported gle Orthod. 1992;62:265–274.
force level is achieved on extending the elastic three 13. Brooks DG, Hershey HG. Effect of heat and time on
times its diameter, does not apply to all cases and stretched plastic orthodontic modules. J Dent Res. 1976;
55(Spec Iss B):363.
shows remarkable variation, ranging from 2.7 to five. 14. Ferriter JP, Meyers CE, Lorton L. The effects of hydrogen
ion concentration on the force-degradation rate of orthodon-
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Angle Orthodontist, Vol 76, No 3, 2006