Optical and Chromatic Evaluation of Fluorescent Orthodontic Bonding Materials Doped with a Europium β-diketonate Complex

3 Introduction Orthodontic treatment using a multibracket appliance that consists of a set of brackets and wires attached to both the upper and lower teeth is one of the most popular and effective methods to correct malocclusions. Orthodontic brackets are usually bonded to the acid-etched surfaces of teeth (enamel) using methacrylate or dimethacrylate resins. The brackets and the residual bonding materials should be removed at the lowest possible iatrogenic damage to enamel surfaces after completing the active treatment. We have been actively attempting to introduce fluorescent imaging into orthodontic adhesives to minimize such damages, and have had some positive outcomes using different kinds of europium-doped nanophosphors [1, 2]. A large number of detailed studies have been performed on lanthanide complexes because of their particular luminescent properties [3–6]. Europium is one of the most useful lanthanides because of its very narrow emission band, large Stokes shift, and long decay time [4,7]. Moreover, the maximum excitation waveOptical and Chromatic Evaluation of Fluorescent Orthodontic Bonding Materials Doped with a Europium β-diketonate Complex