Introduction: An effective debonding agent should be capable of reducing not only the debonding force, but also the amount of adhesive remaining with no enamel or bracket fracture.

Aim: The aim of the present in vitro study was to evaluate the amount of the adhesive remnants, enamel fracture as well as bracket fracture after application of different volatile oils at different time of application using ARI system. Material and Method: Polycarbonate brackets reinforced with ceramic filler were bonded to one hundred and eighty (180) sound extracted human premolars using Transbond XT light curing adhesive. The teeth were then distributed into five groups. Teeth were then de-bonded using the Instron Universal Testing Machine. The enamel surface of debonded teeth and their bracket bases were examined under the stereomicroscope SEM for adhesive remnants (ARI), enamel fracture and bracket fracture.

Result: At 5 minutes of application, no significant difference was noticed among volatile oils in all the qualitative results including; adhesive remnants, enamel fracture and bracket fracture. At 5 minutes of application, the peppermint volatile oil exhibited the highest percentage (55%) of score 1 whereas the clove oil revealed the least percentage (15%). At 30 minutes of application, the black seed exhibited the least percentage of score 1 and the highest percentage of score 2 (75%). At 5 minutes, the peppermint oil showed the least brackets fracture (20%) whereas the clove oil was in the second rank (25%) and the mixture of peppermint oil with black seed oil revealed the highest (55%). At 30 minutes, the clove oil showed the least bracket fracture (5%) whereas peppermint oil was in the second rank (20%) and the black seed oil depicted the highest percentage (45%).

Conclusion: The present study supported that the 5- minutes of peppermint as well as the black seed volatile oil applications can be considered the best debonding agents whereas the clove oil can be used as a medication or mouthwash before debonding. The latter approach worth further investigations.