Effect of A Clinical-Replicable Cooling Protocol on the Cyclic Fatigue Resistance of Heat-Treated Nickel-Titanium Instruments.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bending and cyclic fatigue resistance of Wave One Gold (WOG) and X1 Blue (X1B) instruments when tested at body temperature (36°C ± 1°C) with and without subjected to an alloy cooling protocol.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of sixty instruments (n=30) were tested. Forty instruments (n=20) were randomly selected and divided into two groups: body temperature (BT; n=20) and body temperature with cooling protocol (CP; n=20). Cyclic fatigue test was performed until fracture in a conventional stainless-steel device with water bath equipment to simulate body temperature. CP group instruments were subjected to 5 seconds of spray cooling every 30 seconds. Time to fracture was recorded in seconds. Resistance to bending at an angle of 45 degrees was evaluated using twenty instruments (n=10). Fractured surfaces were examined under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Statistical analysis was performed at a 5% significance level. Results: There was no difference in the cyclic fatigue resistance between instruments in BT groups (>0.05). Cooling protocol significantly increased the cyclic fatigue resistance of X1B instruments (=0.0003) and WOG instruments (=0.0003).

RESULTS

WOG instruments had a significantly lower cyclic fatigue resistance compared to X1B instruments in CP group (=0.0001). There were no significant differences between the values of resistance increase presented by the instruments after cooling (>0.05). Bending test presented no statistically significant differences between the tested instruments (>0.05). Both instruments in both groups showed typical features of cyclic fatigue behavior under SEM.

CONCLUSIONS

X1 Blue #25.06 and WaveOne Gold #25.07 instruments presented similar cyclic fatigue resistance. The investigated clinical-replicable cooling protocol improved the cyclic fatigue resistance of the tested instruments, with X1 Blue #25.06 presenting a greater cyclic fatigue resistance after cooling. Both instruments presented a similar bending capacity.