A systematic approach to preventing intracanal breakage of endodontic files.

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a method to prevent intracanal breakage of endodontic files. An application schedule with a predetermined number of periods of use for K-files of all sizes was implemented at the author's clinic for a 3-year period. All the files used under this schedule were discarded after the predetermined periods of use, whether they displayed any deformity or not. During the 3-year period, 1933 files (53.7 per month) were discarded after preparation of 3269 root canals. There were 5 file fractures (0.1 per month) compared with 1.4 fractures per month before the adaptation of this system. The monthly average of files discarded during the 3-year research period was 53.7. Before the adoption of the trial system, the monthly average of discarded files was 76.5. It is concluded that the experimental system effectively reduced the incidence of intracanal instrument fractures and the total number of files consumed.