Mathematical modeling of flexural behavior of rotary nickel-titanium endodontic instruments.
The aim of the present study was to establish a mathematical model to characterize the flexural behavior of nickel-titanium (NiTi) rotary instruments. The bending behavior of ProFile (0.06 and 0.04 tapers), K-3 (0.06 taper), Quantec (0.04 taper) with tip size of ISO 25, was assessed by pressing the tip of the static rotary file against a smooth, freely movable, glass surface. The deflected instrument was photographed digitally, and the deflection path was digitized in software, to which data a function was fitted that best described the bending behavior of the instrument. It was found that all instruments deflected in a manner closely resembling a negative exponential function: y = A x e(-x/b). The present approach indicated that the analytical difficulties of handling the complex cross-section in tapering spirals in beam-bending theory may be circumvented by a practical and elementary curve-fitting method.
Low
Danny
D
Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong. dannylow@scientist.com
Ho
Angela W L
AW
Cheung
Gary S P
GS
Darvell
Brian W
BW
D003754:Dental High-Speed Equipment; D004548:Elasticity; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012399:Rotation; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
C040654:titanium nickelide; D009532:Nickel; D014025:Titanium