COMPARISON OF 6 FILES TO PREPARE SIMULATED ROOT CANALS .2.

A total of 300 simulated root canals of various angles and positions of curvature in clear resin blocks were prepared by hand using either K-files, K-Flex files, Flexofiles, Flex-R files, Hedstrom files or Unifiles. Each file type was used to prepare 50 canals employing a linear filing motion and an anticurvature stepback technique. Part 2 of this two-part report describes the efficacy of the files in terms of the prevalence of canal aberrations, the amount and direction of canal transportation and the overall postoperative canal shape. Hourglass shaped canals were found in 4.5% of curved canals, the majority of these being created by K-files and K-Flex files. Perforations were seen in 6.3% of curved canals, the majority being produced by Flex-R files and K-files. Excessive removal of material from along the inner aspect of the canal curve occurred in 10.4% of canals, by far the majority being created by Hedstrom files. Transportation of canals was a consistent finding with all instruments. Two-way analysis of variance revealed how significant differences in the absolute magnitude of transportation occurred between instruments, between canal types and by an interaction between instrument and canal type. in general, transportation was towards the outer aspect of the canal curve at the end-point of preparation and the zip and elbow, but towards the inner aspect at the beginning of the curve. Further towards the orifice, transportation reverted to the outer aspect of the canal curve. In straight canals, one-way analysis of variance indicated that significant differences (P < 0.05) occurred in the width of canals at their end-point between instruments. In curved canals, two-way analysis of variance indicated that the width of canals throughout their length varied significantly between instruments, between canal types and in some instances with interaction between instrument and canal type. Under the conditions of this study, canal shaping with Flexofiles and Flex-R files appeared to be superior to that possible with K-files, K-Flex files, Hedstrom files or Unifiles.