Microbial Culture and Scanning Electron Microscopic Evaluation of Endodontic Hand Files: An In Vitro Study

Background Endodontic hand files are used during root canal treatment in the cleaning and shaping step of the procedure. Whether endodontic instruments should be single-use or reusable is a topic of debate. This in vitro study aimed to analyze the bioburden on used and new sterilized endodontic hand files. Methodology A total of 30 K-files (15 used, 15 new) and 30 H-files (15 used, 15 new) were studied. After clinical use, the used and new files were subjected to phloxine B staining, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, and microbial culture. We used a Fisher’s exact test to investigate the significant difference in contamination and bioburden between new and used endodontic files. Results The chi-square test showed no statistically significant difference between new and used groups in staining. In the used group, 20% of the H-files and 6.7% of the K-files were positive for bioburden (p > 0.05). The SEM analysis showed that all used files (100%) were contaminated with biological debris. All new files and most of the used files (86.7%) were negative for bacterial culture. Conclusions Used K-files and H-files (sizes 25 and below) had greater contamination and bioburden than new files. Our results highlight the inadequacy of cleaning methods (mechanical/ultrasonication pre-cleaning and heat sterilization) employed between re-usage of files in this study. Appropriate decision-making on either adapting an evidence-based and effective reprocessing strategy or single-use files can be considered by dentists.