en orthodontic orthodontic Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Background and Aim</span></span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">:</span></span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#222222">This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the static and kinetic frictional forces of domestically produced Emerald&trade; brackets during sliding mechanics and compare them with Mini&nbsp;Master&trade; brackets, a well-recognized alternative, to determine their viability as a cost-effective and reliable option.</span></span></span></span></span> &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Materials and Methods: </span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#222222">For sample selection, 100 brackets from each manufacturer (200 in total) were screened under a light microscope, and then 34 Emerald&trade; and 34 Mini Master&trade; brackets were randomly selected. Additionally, 68 rectangular stainless-steel archwires (0.019&rdquo; &times;0.025&rdquo;) were selected after eligibility assessment. Brackets were mounted on plastic blocks using cyanoacrylate adhesive, and archwires were secured in the bracket slots with elastic ligatures. Friction was measured using a universal testing machine (500-N load cell), with&nbsp;5&nbsp;mm/min speed over a 5 mm distance. The Shapiro-Wilk test assessed normality, and the Mann-Whitney U test compared friction between the groups (&alpha; = 0.05).</span></span></span></span></span> &nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Results: </span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">No statistically significant difference was found between the mean kinetic frictional forces of Emerald&trade; (<span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">1.80&plusmn;0.57 N</span></span>) <span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">and </span></span>Mini Master&trade; <span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">brackets (1.90&plusmn;0.29 N) (P=0.342). However, </span></span>Emerald&trade; <span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">brackets demonstrated significantly lower mean static frictional forces (2.14&plusmn;0.76 N) compared to </span></span>Mini Master&trade; <span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">group (2.44&plusmn;0.41 N) (P=</span></span>0.045<span style="background:white"><span style="color:#222222">). Additionally, Emerald&trade; brackets showed greater variability in friction values, with a wider range between minimum and maximum forces than the Mini Master&trade; group.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana=""><span style="color:#2e74b5">Conclusion:</span></span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="font-family:" verdana="">The results suggest that Emerald&trade; brackets may provide a low-friction advantage, but their variable friction values require further research to evaluate clinical implications. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp;</div> Orthodontic Friction, Orthodontics, Orthodontic Brackets 176 183 http://jrdms.dentaliau.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1867-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Nazanin Foroozandehfar Nazanin.frz1999@gmail.com 100319475328460015582 100319475328460015582 No Research Institute for Dental Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Shiva Tavakol Davani S.tavakoldavani@gmail.com 100319475328460015583 100319475328460015583 Yes Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Azita Tehranchi azitatehranchi@yahoo.com 100319475328460015584 100319475328460015584 No Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Parisa Amjadi amdjadiparisa@gmail.com 100319475328460015585 100319475328460015585 No Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Hoori Mirmohammad Sadeghi 100319475328460015587 100319475328460015587 No Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Alireza Akbarzadeh Baghban 100319475328460015586 100319475328460015586 No Department of Basic Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.