Efeito da sequência de processamento durante a fabricação de instrumentos endodônticos Niti em suas propriedades mecânicas / Effect of the processing sequence during the manufacture of niti endodontic instruments on their mechanical properties

As características geométricas e técnicas de fabricação das limas endodônticas afetam o desempenho clínico e sua resistência à fratura, flexibilidade e outras propriedades. Um parâmetro muito explorado na Endodontia é a utilização de tratamentos térmicos, que promovem um aumento na resistência à fadiga e flexibilidade destes materiais. Neste estudo pretendeu-se avaliar o efeito de diferentes processos de tratamento térmico/usinagem nas propriedades físicas, flexibilidade, resistência torcional e à fadiga flexural dos instrumentos Prodesign Logic (PDL), verificando se a sequência de processamento dos instrumentos levaria a comportamentos mecânicos diferentes. Este sistema é fabricado a partir de um método inovador que envolve a realização do tratamento térmico para obtenção de memória de forma no fio NiTi anteriormente à usinagem. A hipótese nula a ser testada é que o momento de aplicação dos procedimentos de tratamento térmico e usinagem não afetariam as propriedades físicas e mecânicas de instrumentos endodônticos de NiTi. Para grupos de comparação, foram utilizados protótipos de instrumentos com as mesmas características geométricas e dimensionais, sendo um grupo de instrumentos sem tratamento térmico aplicado (SEP) e outro com o tratamento térmico realizado de forma convencional, após a usinagem do instrumento (HTP). Foram realizadas caracterização física e microestrutural com ensaios de calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC) e testes de difratometria de Raios-X (DRX), além de ensaios mecânicos divididos em testes de torção, dobramento em 45 e resistência à fadiga flexural. Os resultados mostraram que macroscopicamente não houve nenhuma alteração importante nas características dos três grupos de instrumentos, exceto mudanças de cor devido a diferentes sequências de processamento. Os resultados de DSC mostraram que à temperatura ambiente a liga é principalmente austenítica no grupo SEP e que após o tratamento térmico realizado nos grupos PDL e HTP, houve uma mudança nas temperaturas de transformação, com um aumento da temperatura de Af e predominância da liga NiTi em fase R. Os resultados de XDR confirmaram os achados do DSC. As diferenças nos parâmetros medidos entre diferentes tipos de instrumentos nos ensaios de resistência torcional, dobramento a 45º e fadiga flexural foi sempre considerada com um nível de significância de 95%. Os resultados para os ensaios de flexão mostraram que o grupo HTP mostrou-se o mais flexível, com os mais baixos valores de momento de dobramento, seguido por PDL e SEP. Nos resultados dos ensaios de torção foi possível observar que SEP apresentou valores mais altos de torque seguido por PDL e HTP (p<.05). Os ensaios de resistência à fadiga mostraram valores médios de NCF maiores para HTP, seguido por PDL e SEP. Entretanto, um pior comportamento do PDL só seria evidenciado clinicamente se os instrumentos fossem usados um número de vezes maior do que o recomendado pelo fabricante. Pode-se concluir que alterar o processo de fabricação dos instrumentos endodônticos, invertendo-se as etapas de usinagem e tratamento térmico, levou, de fato, a uma mudança no comportamento mecânico de instrumentos Prodesign Logic em relação aos prótótipos.

The geometric characteristics and manufacturing techniques of endodontic instruments affect clinical performance, fracture resistance, flexibility and other properties. A parameter widely explored in Endodontics is the use of heat treatments, which promote an increase in the resistance to fatigue and flexibility of these materials. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different heat treatment / machining processes on the physical properties, flexibility, torsional strength and flexural fatigue of Prodesign Logic (PDL) instruments, verifying whether the processing sequence of the instruments would lead to different mechanical behaviors. This system is manufactured using an innovative method that involves performing thermal treatment to obtain shape memory in the NiTi wire prior to machining. The null hypothesis to be tested is that the moment of application of the heat treatment and machining procedures would not affect the physical and mechanical properties of NiTi endodontic instruments. For comparison groups, instrument prototypes with the same geometric and dimensional characteristics were used, being one group of instruments without thermal treatment applied (SEP) and another with thermal treatment carried out in a conventional manner, after machining the instrument (HTP). Physical and microstructural characterization were performed with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) tests, in addition to mechanical tests divided into torsion tests, 45° bending and resistance to flexural fatigue. The results showed that macroscopically there were no major change in the characteristics of the three groups of instruments, except for color changes due to different processing sequences. The DSC results showed that at room temperature the alloy is mainly austenitic in the SEP group and that after the heat treatment carried out in the PDL and HTP groups, there was a change in the transformation temperatures, with an increase in the Af temperature and predominance of the NiTi alloy in phase R. The XRD results confirmed the DSC findings. Differences in the parameters measured between different types of instruments in the tests of torsional resistance, bending at 45º and flexural fatigue were always considered with a significance level of 95%. The results for the flexibility tests showed that the HTP group proved to be the most flexible, with the lowest values, followed by PDL and SEP. In the results of the torsion tests it was possible to observe that SEP presented higher values of torque followed by PDL and HTP (p <.05). Fatigue resistance tests showed higher mean NCF values for HTP, followed by PDL and SEP. However, a worse behavior of the PDL would only be evidenced clinically if the instruments were used several times greater than that recommended by the manufacturer. It can be concluded that changing the manufacturing process of endodontic instruments, inverting the machining and heat treatment steps, led, in fact, to a change in the mechanical behavior of Prodesign Logic instruments in relation to the prototypes.

Effect of surface treatment on the mechanical properties of nickel-titanium files with a similar cross-section

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical properties of various nickel-titanium (NiTi) files with similar tapers and cross-sectional areas depending on whether they were surface-treated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three NiTi file systems with a similar convex triangular cross-section and the same ISO #25 tip size were selected for this study: G6 (G6), ProTaper Universal (PTU), and Dia-PT (DPT). To test torsional resistance, 5 mm of the straightened file's tip was fixed between polycarbonate blocks (n = 15/group) and continuous clockwise rotation until fracture was conducted using a customized device. To evaluate cyclic fatigue resistance, files were rotated in an artificial curved canal until fracture in a dynamic mode (n = 15/group). The torsional data were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance and the Tukey post-hoc comparison test, while the cyclic fatigue data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test at a significance level of 95%. RESULTS: PTU showed significantly greater toughness, followed by DPT and G6 (p < 0.05). G6 showed the lowest resistance in ultimate torsional strength, while it showed a higher fracture angle than the other files (p < 0.05). In the cyclic fatigue test, DPT showed a significantly higher number of cycles to failure than PTU or G6 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that the torsional resistance of NiTi files was affected by the cross-sectional area, while the cyclic fatigue resistance of NiTi files was influenced by the surface treatment.

Optimization of orthodontic microimplant thread design / 대한치과교정학회지

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to optimize the thread pattern of orthodontic microimplants. METHODS: In search of an optimal thread for orthodontic microimplants, an objective function stability quotient (SQ) was built and solved which will help increase the stability and torsional strength of microimplants while reducing the bone damage during insertion. Selecting the AbsoAnchor SH1312-7 microimplant (Dentos Inc., Daegu, Korea) as a control, and using the thread height (h) and pitch (p) as design parameters, new thread designs with optimal combination of h and p combination were developed. Design soundness of the new threads were examined through insertion strain analyses using 3D finite element simulation, torque test, and clinical test. RESULTS: Solving the function SQ, four new models with optimized thread designs were developed (h200p6, h225p7, h250p8, and h275p8). Finite element analysis has shown that these new designs may cause less bone damage during insertion. The torsional strength of two models h200p6 and h225p7 were significantly higher than the control. On the other hand, clinical test of models h200p6 and h250p8 had similar success rates when compared to the control. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the new thread designs exhibited better performance than the control which indicated that the optimization methodology may be a useful tool when designing orthodontic microimplant threads.