Numerical study on the influence of material characteristics on Ni-Ti endodontic instrument performance

Ni-Ti rotary endodontic instruments (files) are used in dentistry during the endodontic treatment to shape the root canal of the tooth while removing the pulp when infected. Up to now, the studies for evaluating their performances and drawbacks were mainly limited to experimental tests on product flexural and torsional resistance. This work exploits computational analyses for investigating the effects of materials with different mechanical properties on the behavior of rotary endodontic instruments. The aim is to understand the appropriate material choice to reduce the criticality of the treatment in particular clinical conditions. In particular, the interaction between an accurately modeled rotating file and differently shaped root canals during the clinical procedure was studied performing finite element analyses. Strains induced by the treatment on a file made of a “standard” Ni-Ti alloy (characterized by average properties of the pseudoelastic behavior), a “long” Ni-Ti alloy (characterized by wide transformation region), a “super” Ni-Ti alloy (characterized by an extended Hookian behavior without transformation region), and stainless steel were compared. The results accurately show the advantages of the use of Ni-Ti alloy with respect to stainless steel and the better performance of the “long” alloy in all the tested case.