A Comparison of the Dentin Cutting Efficiency of 4 Pointed Ultrasonic Tips

Introduction: Pointed ultrasonic tips can be used for several applications including troughing around intracanal obstructions. With the variety of pointed ultrasonic tips available, the purpose of this in vitro investigation was to compare the dentin cutting efficiency of 4 commonly used pointed ultrasonic tips. Methods: The ultrasonic tips (n = 5 tips/group) included in the study were the following: CPR-3D (Obtura Spartan, Algonquin, IL), BL 6A (B&L Biotech, Bala Cynwyd, PA), PUENDO2 (Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties, Tulsa, OK), and WH1 (eie2, San Diego, CA). The tips were attached to a testing apparatus that produced linear movement and a 15-g axial force during instrumentation of a human dentin specimen. For all tips, instrumentation was completed at the same power setting, which fell within the power setting range recommended by each manufacturer. Dentin specimens were weighed at baseline and after 6 minutes of instrumentation to measure dentin loss to the nearest 0.01 mg. A qualitative analysis of the shape and surface topography of new and used ultrasonic tips was performed via scanning electron microscopy. Results: A 1-factor analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc analysis of dentin removal revealed a statistically significant difference between the 4 ultrasonic tips (P < .05). The CPR-3D removed more dentin than the other 3 tips, whereas the BL 6A removed more dentin than the WH1. Scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed the CPR-3D as having the least change to tip shape and topography as compared with the other tips. Conclusions: Within the limits of this study, CPR-3D showed the greatest dentin removal, which may be linked to the stability of the CPR-3D tip shape and topography.