Incidence of instrument separation using LightSpeed rotary instruments.

The use of nickel-titanium rotary instrument systems has gained popularity over the past 10 years. One of these instrument systems is the LightSpeed (LightSpeed Technology, Inc, San Antonio, TX). One drawback for all nickel-titanium rotary instruments is the incidence of instrument separation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of nonretrievable instrument separation using the LightSpeed system in a clinical setting. A total of 3543 canals were treated over a 24 month period and during that time, 46 LightSpeed instruments were separated and found to be nonretrievable, resulting in a separation rate of 1.30%. This rate was lower than previous reported studies.

[1]  H. Messer,et al.  The quality of apical canal preparation using hand and rotary instruments with specific criteria for enlargement based on initial apical file size. , 2002, Journal of endodontics.

[2]  Michael A Baumann,et al.  Nickel-titanium: options and challenges. , 2004, Dental clinics of North America.

[3]  H. Gerstein,et al.  An initial investigation of the bending and torsional properties of Nitinol root canal files. , 1988, Journal of endodontics.

[4]  S B Dove,et al.  A comparison of root canal preparations using Ni-Ti hand, Ni-Ti engine-driven, and K-Flex endodontic instruments. , 1995, Journal of endodontics.

[5]  K I Knowles,et al.  Assessing apical deformation and transportation following the use of LightSpeed root-canal instruments. , 1996, International endodontic journal.

[6]  A. Roth,et al.  Effect of experience on quality of canal preparation with rotary nickel-titanium files. , 1999, Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology, and endodontics.

[7]  Marco Ramirez-Salomon,et al.  Incidence of Lightspeed separation and the potential for bypassing. , 1997, Journal of endodontics.

[8]  Gary R Hartwell,et al.  K3 Endo, ProTaper, and ProFile systems: breakage and distortion in severely curved roots of molars. , 2004, Journal of endodontics.

[9]  J. P. Pruett,et al.  Cyclic fatigue testing of nickel-titanium endodontic instruments. , 1997, Journal of endodontics.

[10]  J. Wolcott.  Nickel-titanium usage and breakage: an update. , 2003, Compendium of continuing education in dentistry.

[11]  M. Hülsmann,et al.  Comparative study of root-canal preparation using Lightspeed and Quantec SC rotary NiTi instruments. , 2003, International endodontic journal.

[12]  Bor-Shiunn Lee,et al.  Cyclic fatigue of endodontic nickel titanium rotary instruments: static and dynamic tests. , 2002, Journal of endodontics.