Pages 113-117, Language: EnglishFerreira, Manuel / Ferreira, Hugo / Oliveiros, Barbara / Carrilho, EuniceAim: The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of deformation and instrument separation of rotary nickel-titanium instruments used clinically by the same operator according to a predefined schedule.
Methodology: A total of 110 ProFile instruments (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland), discarded from an endodontic clinic, were analysed.
Results: The incidences of instrument separation were 4.5% and for unwinding of the instruments 12.7% respectively. Flexural fatigue was implicated in the majority of separations.
Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that ProFile instruments tended to exhibit unwinding of flutes more frequently than deformation and separation.
Keywords: nickel-titanium (NiTi), ProFile, rotary root canal instruments, surface defects