Assessing apical deformation and transportation following the use of LightSpeed root-canal instruments

The LightSpeed root canal instrument is similar in design to the Canal Master instrument with the exception of being engine driven and fabricated from nickel-titanium alloy. The purpose of the design of these instruments is to reduce apical transportation of the canal during cleansing and shaping procedures. Twenty extracted human molar teeth with roots of varying degrees of curvature were used in this study. A double exposure radiographic technique was used to assess the presence or absence of apical transportation resulting between the initial instrument and the final instrument, a size 50 LightSpeed. Only one of the 20 teeth examined exhibited apical transportation. Results of this study suggest that little or no apical canal transportation could be expected when curved canals are instrumented using the LightSpeed root canal instruments.