Electrochemical corrosion assessment of RaCe and Mtwo rotary nickle-titanium instruments after clinical use and sterilization

AIM The aim of the present study was to electrochemically evaluate corrosion resistance of RaCe and Mtwo files after repeated sterilization and preparation procedures. STUDY DESIGN A total of 450 rotary files were used. In the working groups, 72 files from each file type were distributed into 4 groups. RaCe and Mtwo files were used to prepare one root canal of the mesial root of extracted human mandibular first molars. The procedure was repeated to prepare 2 to 8 canals. The following irrigation solutions were used: group 1, RaCe files with 2.5% NaOCl; group 2, RaCe files with normal saline; group 3, Mtwo files with 2.5% NaOCl; and group 4, Mtwo files with normal saline in the manner described. In autoclave groups, 72 files from each file type were evenly distributed into 2 groups. Files were used for a cycle of sterilization without the use of files for root canal preparation. Nine new unused files from each file type were used as controls. Then the instruments were sent for corrosion assessment. Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests were used for independent and dependent groups, respectively. RESULTS Statistical analysis indicated that there were significant differences in corrosion resistance of files associated with working and autoclave groups between RaCe and Mtwo file types (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Corrosion resistance of #25, #30, and #35 Mtwo files is significantly higher than that in RaCe files with similar sizes.