Summary
Rotatory files are instruments used in the treatment of dental canals roots. These instruments need to comply with certain physical characteristics for a correct, adequate and safe use for clinical use. In the commercial market there are a series of imported instruments that cast doubt on their authenticity due to their low costs. In this study we physically, chemically and morphologically evaluated two Protaper universal rotary instrument kits (Dentsply) using SEM, EDX, microhardness and EDS analysis. One of the kits (group 1) was purchased directly from the commercial house and another imported kit that a simple view did not seem to meet the quality standards of a correct packaging (group 2). In the SEM analysis, very different morphological characteristics were observed between both kits, group 2 presented various irregularities on the surface of the files, however, no difference was found in the EDS. Regarding the microhardness analysis, a statistically significant statistic was observed and in the EDS, higher intensity peaks were observed in terms of the Ni-Ti alloy in group 2. These results suggest that there are imported rotary instruments that despite their low cost can present characteristics very similar to authentic kits, however, physically and chemically they can result in a risk for their clinical use due to the difference between them.
KEY WORDS: rotary instruments, endodontics, microhardness, protaper, elemental composition, energy dispersive spectroscopy.
How to cite this article
GUTIÉRREZ-CAMACHO, J. R.; ZAVALA-ALONSO, N. V.; BERMÚDEZ-JIMÉNEZ, C.; AGUILERA-GALAVIZ, L. A.; MARTÍNEZ-FIERRO, M. L.; BALTAZAR-HERNÁNDEZ, V. & GAITÁN-FONSECA, C. Elemental analysis of the morphological, physical and chemical properties of two protaper universal rotary instruments. Int. J. Odontostomat., 15(2):381-386, 2021.
