A total of 210 double-width stainless steel edgewise brackets with retentive lip bases were bonded to bovine incisors with seven commercially available direct-bonding materials. Ten samples for each of the seven direct-bonding materials were tested for shear strength using the Instron Universal Testing Instrument. The samples were tested after 1 day, 1 month, and 3 months of immersion in 30 per cent physiologic saline solution. The mean shear strength of each direct-bonding material at each time interval was compared statistically to the mean shear strength of each of the materials at each time interval with a matched 1 test. The same test was used to determine whether there had been a significant change in mean shear strength from start to finish of testing for each material. One product showed a significantly better mean shear strength than any other material at each test interval. The remaining materials were grouped in middle or low ranges, depending upon their final mean shear strengths and degrees of nonsignificance when compared to each other.