Force extension relaxation of medium force orthodontic latex elastics, AngO June 2011, early access

The Angle Orthodontist of June 2011, has a very interesting article concerning the forces of latex elastics, over time.
The elastics is one of the few tools so widely used and so little studied in orthodontics.

The graph on the left shows for three commercial latex elastics, that for the first 3 hours there is a decrease of force.
This force increases for the next 3-6 hours and decreases again up to 12 hours of stretching.



The link of the article which is ahead of print (early online access for those subscribed to the journal).

The study was made, with continuous loading of several latex elastics of three different companies. The stretching was performed for 24hours and the elastics were embedded in saliva at mouth temperature during those 24 hours.

Reference:
Force extension relaxation of medium force orthodontic latex elastics
Daniel J. Fernandes^a, Gisele M. A. Fernandes^b, Flavia Artese^c, Carlos N. Elias^d, and Alvaro M. Mendes^c

D.G.