The effect of 5% sodium hypochlorite, 17% EDTA and triphala on two different rotary Ni-Ti instruments: An AFM and EDS analysis

AIM: To use Atomic Force Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy to evaluate the effect of 5% NaOCl, 17% EDTA and triphala on ProTaper and iRaCe rotary Ni-Ti instruments. METHODOLOGY: A total of eight Ni-Ti rotary files, four files each of ProTaper - S2 (Dentsply) and iRaCe - R3 (FKG DENTAIRE) were used. Three out of four files each from ProTaper and iRaCe were immersed in 5% NaOCl, 17% EDTA and Triphala separately for five minutes. The Roughness average (Ra), Root Mean Square (RMS) and Mean Height of Roughness Profile Elements (Rc) of the scanned profiles were then recorded using AFM and the elemental composition was evaluated with EDS. Data were analyzed by Student's t test, One Way ANOVA and Duncan's Multiple Range Test. RESULTS: Topographic irregularities at the nanometric scale were observed for all files. Files immersed in EDTA and NaOCl showed highly significant surface roughness than untreated files. CONCLUSION: Short-term contact with 17% EDTA and 5% NaOCl can cause significant surface deterioration of ProTaper and iRaCe rotary NiTi files. AFM proves to be a suitable method for evaluating the instrument surface.