# Force of Intermaximillary Late Elastics from Different Suppliers: A Comparative In Vitro Study
## 3 Results
### Force Degradation  
Force degradation in intermaximillary elastics was not linear over time, with the greatest drop occurring for all manufacturers within the first two hours (Figures 3 and 4; Tables 2 and 3). The force values at 2, 8, 24, and 48 h decreased gradually for all companies, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Hours** & **Manufacturer** & \begin{tabular}{c} **Mean Initial** \\ **Force (N)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Mean Initial** \\ **Force (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Mean Initial** \\ **Force (oz)** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Mean Initial** \\ **Force (oz)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{0} & Dent & 1.301 & & & 132.665 & 4.68 \\  & AO & 1.109 & & & 113.087 & 3.989 \\  & 3M & 1.406 & & & 143.372 & 5.057 \\  & 3 CQ & 1.55 & & & 158.056 & 5.575 \\  & 3 CQ & 1.124 & & & 114.616 & 4.043 \\  & Mean & 1.298 & & & 132.359 & 4.669 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{2} & **Hours** & **Manufacturer** & **Degradation** & **Residual force** & **Degradation** & **Residual** & **Degradation** & **Residual** \\  & **(\%)** & **(N)** & **(N)** & **(\%)** & **Force (g)** & **(oz)** & **Force (oz)** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{2} & Dent & 16.38 & 0.213 & 1.088 & 21.731 & 110.935 & 0.767 & 3.913 \\  & AO & 18.76 & 0.208 & 0.901 & 21.215 & 91.871 & 0.748 & 3.241 \\  & 3M & 10.05 & 0.141 & 1.265 & 14.409 & 128.963 & 0.508 & 4.549 \\  & 3O & 11.74 & 0.182 & 1.368 & 18.556 & 139.500 & 0.655 & 4.921 \\  & 3 CQ & 17.74 & 0.199 & 0.925 & 20.333 & 94.283 & 0.717 & 3.260 \\  & Mean & 14.93 & 0.189 & 1.109 & 19.249 & 113.111 & 0.679 & 3.990 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{8} & Dent & 22.83 & 0.297 & 1.004 & 30.287 & 102.378 & 1.068 & 3.611 \\  & AO & 27.88 & 0.309 & 0.800 & 31.529 & 81.586 & 1.112 & 2.877 \\  & 3M & 14.9 & 0.209 & 1.197 & 21.362 & 122.010 & 0.754 & 4.304 \\  & 3 CQ & 16.25 & 0.252 & 1.298 & 25.684 & 132.372 & 0.906 & 4.669 \\  & 3 CQH & 22.24 & 0.250 & 0.874 & 25.491 & 89.125 & 0.899 & 3.144 \\  & Mean & 20.82 & 0.264 & 1.034 & 26.871 & 105.489 & 0.948 & 3.721 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{24} & Dent & 28.32 & 0.368 & 0.933 & 37.571 & 95.094 & 1.325 & 3.354 \\  & AO & 33.2 & 0.368 & 0.741 & 37.545 & 75.542 & 1.324 & 2.665 \\  & 3M & 20.43 & 0.287 & 1.119 & 29.291 & 114.081 & 1.033 & 4.024 \\  & 3O & 19.62 & 0.304 & 1.246 & 31.011 & 127.045 & 1.094 & 4.481 \\  & 3 CQ & 25.58 & 0.288 & 0.836 & 29.319 & 85.297 & 1.034 & 3.009 \\  & Mean & 25.430 & 0.323 & 0.975 & 32.947 & 99.412 & 1.162 & 3.507 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{48} & Dent & 30.78 & 0.400 & 0.901 & 40.834 & 91.831 & 1.440 & 3.239 \\  & AO & 36.08 & 0.400 & 0.709 & 40.802 & 72.285 & 1.439 & 2.550 \\  & 3M & 24.79 & 0.349 & 1.057 & 35.542 & 107.830 & 1.254 & 3.804 \\  & 3 CQ & 21.23 & 0.329 & 1.221 & 33.585 & 124.501 & 1.184 & 4.392 \\  & 6 GkH & 27.49 & 0.309 & 0.815 & 31.508 & 83.108 & 1.111 & 2.922 \\  & Mean & 28.074 & 0.357 & 0.941 & 36.448 & 95.911 & 1.286 & 3.383 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* N = newton; g = gram; oz = ounce; Dent = Dentaurum; AO = American Orthodontics; OO = Ortho Organizers; G&H = G&H Orthodontics; Mean = average calculated by dividing the sum of the five values in the set by their number.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Initial forces at 0 h in newtons, grams, and ounces calculated using the following formula: 1 N = 101.9716212978 gf (gram force); 1 oz = 28.3495231 g. Force degradation at 2, 8, 24, and 48 h is shown as a percentage of the initial force, in newtons, grams, and ounces. Residual force at 2, 8, 24, and 48 h is displayed in newtons, grams, and ounces. Figure 3: Box graph showing median, 1 st quartile, and 3 rd quartile force values for all five manufacturers measured at all time periods; \({}^{\circ}\) = outliers; \({}^{\star}\) = extreme values; h = hours; N = newton. AO = American Orthodontics; OO = Ortho Organizers; G&H = G&H Orthodontics. with the mean decrease being 14.9%, 20.8%, 25.43%, and 28.1%, respectively. At all time periods, the rate of force degradation was different among the manufacturers (\(p\) < 0.0001).