Date of Award
Summer 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Dentistry
First Advisor
Berzins, David
Second Advisor
Bradley, Thomas
Third Advisor
Liu, Dawei
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fluoride and stress on the electrochemical properties of nickel-titanium coils. Forty Dentsply GAC NiTi coils were divided into four groups of ten and individually tested. Twenty coils were placed in a solution of artificial saliva, where ten of the twenty were compressed and the other ten were not stressed. The other twenty coils were placed in a 1500 ppm NaF solution, where ten were compressed and ten were not. The coils were connected to a computer driven potentiostat and three tests were conducted: open circuit potential monitoring for 2 hours, a linear polarization scan, and a cyclic polarization test. The results showed the coils to possess a more noble OCP when in artificial saliva compared to fluoride. The non-compressed, artificial saliva group possessed the greatest polarization resistance (p