Cyclic fatigue resistance of ProTaper Next nickel-titanium rotary files

AimTo compare the cyclic fatigue resistance of ProTaper Next files (PTN; Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) with Twisted Files (TF; SybronEndo, Orange, CA, USA), HyFlex CM (HF; ColteneEndo/Whaledent, Inc, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, USA) and ProTaper Universal (PT; Dentsply Maillefer). MethodologySize 25, .06 taper for PTN X2, TF, HF and PT F1 size 20, .07 taper were rotated in simulated canals until failure, and the number of cycles to failure (NCF) was recorded to evaluate their cyclic fatigue resistance. A scanning electron microscope was used to characterize the topographic features of the fracture surfaces of broken files. The data of the NCF and fragment length values were analysed statistically using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc tests. Statistical significance level was set at P<0.05. ResultsTwisted Files had a significantly higher resistance to cyclic fatigue than the other instruments (P<0.05). No significant difference was found in NCF between PTN and HF (P>0.05); however, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) of both these systems with PT, which exhibited the lowest mean NCF. The ranking in the NCF values was: TF>PTN>HF>PT. The fracture cross-sections of all brands revealed similar fractographic features, including crack origins, fatigue zone and an overload fast fracture zone. ConclusionsThe new ProTaper Next had greater resistance to cyclic fatigue compared with ProTaper and HyFlex CM but not the Twisted Files.