The benefits of using low accelerating voltage to assess endodontic instruments by scanning electron microscopy.
Scanning electron microscopy is often used to evaluate surface contamination and machining defects in dental and other medical instruments. Knowledge of the operating conditions of the SEM, in particular the accelerating voltage, is essential to properly interpret images of such material. We demonstrate the importance of using low accelerating voltages to detect surface features including contamination on NiTi rotary and hand files, and conclude that even recent studies may have significantly underestimated the amount of non-metallic debris (from the manufacturing process or from biological contamination) present on the surface of such instruments.
Stowe
Sally
S
ANU Electron Microscopy Unit, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT. Sally.Stowe@anu.edu.au
Parirokh
Masoud
M
Asgary
Saeed
S
Eghbal
Mohammed Jafar
MJ
D003722:Dental Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D004560:Electricity; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods*; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
D003722:Dental Alloys; C040654:titanium nickelide; D009532:Nickel; D014025:Titanium