The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the influence of the geometrical cross-section design on the dynamic cyclic fatigue resistance of NiTi endodontic rotary files.
Materials and methods: Forty sterile endodontic rotary files were selected and distributed into the following study groups: A: 25.06 double S-shaped cross-section NiTi alloy endodontic rotary files (Mtwo) (n = 10); B: 20.04 rectangular cross-section NiTi alloy endodontic rotary files (T Pro E1) (n = 10); C: 25.04 convex triangular cross-section NiTi alloy endodontic rotary files (T Pro E2) (n = 10); and D: 25.06 triangular cross-section NiTi alloy endodontic rotary files (T Pro E4) (n = 10). A cyclic fatigue device was used to conduct the static cyclic fatigue tests with stainless steel artificial root canal systems with 200 µm and 250 µm apical diameter, 60° curvature angle, 3 mm radius of curvature, 20 mm length, and 4% and 8% taper. The results were analyzed using the ANOVA test and Weibull statistical analysis.
Results: All the pairwise comparisons presented statistically significant differences between the time to failure and number of cycles to failure for the cross-section design study groups (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: the double S-shaped cross-section of Mtwo NiTi endodontic files shows higher cyclic fatigue resistance than the rectangular cross-section of T Pro E1 NiTi endodontic files, the convex triangular cross-section of T Pro E2 NiTi endodontic files, and the triangular cross-section of T Pro E4 NiTi endodontic files.
Keywords: NiTi; continuous rotation; cross-section design; cyclic fatigue; endodontics; energy-dispersive X-ray.