Comparison of fracture and deformation in the rotary endodontic instruments: Protaper versus K-3 system

This experimental study was done on extracted human teeth to compare the fracture and deformation of the two rotary endodontic files system namely K-3 and Protapers. It was conducted at the dental clinics of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, A log of file deformation or fracture during root canal preparation was kept. The location of fracture was noted along with the identity of the canal in which fracture took place. The fracture in the two rotary systems was compared. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. Of the 172(80.4%) teeth possessing more than 15 degrees of curvature, fracture occurred in 7(4.1%) cases and deformation in 10(5.8%). Of the 42(19.6%) teeth possessing less than 15 degrees of curvature, fracture occurred in none of them while deformation was seen in 1(2.4%). There was no difference in K-3 and Protaper files with respect to file deformation and fracture. Most of the fractures occurred in mesiobuccal canals of maxillary molars, n=3(21.4%). The likelihood of file fracture increased 5.65-fold when the same file was used more than 3 times. Irrespective of the rotary system, apical third of the root canal space was the most common site for file fracture.