Background: Many brands of aluminum oxide powders are available for dental air abrasion units to cut tooth structure. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to: 1) evaluate the cutting efficiency of seven different aluminum oxide powders when used in the same air abrasion unit 2) relate the cutting efficiency to physical characteristics of the powders and 3) related cutting efficiency to the distance of the air abrasion tip from the substrate being abraded. Methods: Seven different brands of aluminum oxide powders sold for dental air abrasion units were measured for particle size distribution, aspect ratio and powder flow in grams per second when used with a Kreativ Mach 5 air abrasion unit set at 80 pounds per square inch air pressure and medium powder flow, which equaled a beam intensity of 5.0. The time in seconds to cut through a standard microscope slide was measured six times when the tip of the air abrasion handpiece was 1 and 3 millimeters from the slide and at an angle of 75 degrees. Results were analyzed using univariate analysis of variance and logistic regression. Results: Mean particle size of the seven powders ranged from 19.9 to 56.2 microns. Mean powder flow in grams per second ranged from 0.028 to 0.110. Aspect ratio ranged from 1.08 to 2.18. Cutting efficiency was positively associated with average particle size (p< 0.0005) and distance from glass slide (p<0.0005) and negatively associated with aspect ratio (p=0.003). Conclusions: Within the ranges measured, cutting efficiency was significantly affected by particle size, distance from substrate and aspect ratio.

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