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Failure analysis of eleven Gates Glidden drills that fractured intraorally during post space preparation. A retrieval analysis study

  • Youssef S. Al Jabbari EMAIL logo , Raymond Fournelle , Sara M. Al Taweel and Spiros Zinelis
Published/Copyright: July 19, 2017
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Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik
From the journal Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik Volume 63 Issue 4

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the failure mechanism of clinically failed Gates Glidden (GG) drills. Eleven retrieved GG drills (sizes #1 to #3) which fractured during root canal preparation were collected and the fracture location was recorded based on macroscopic observation. All fracture surfaces were investigated by a SEM. Then the fractured parts were embedded in acrylic resin and after metallographic preparation, the microstructure and elemental composition was evaluated by SEM and EDS. The Vickers hardness (HV) of all specimens was also determined. Macroscopic examination and SEM analysis showed that the drills failed near the hand piece end by torsional fatigue with fatigue cracks initiating at several locations around the circumference and propagating toward the center. Final fracture followed by a tensile overloading at the central region of cross section. Microstructural analysis, hardness measurements and EDS show that the drills are made of a martensitic stainless steel like AISI 440C. Based on the findings of this study, clinicians should expect fatigue fracture of GG drills that have small size during root canal preparation. Selection of a more fatigue resistant stainless steel alloy and enhancing the instrument design might reduce the incidence of quasi-cleavage fracture on GG drills.

Keywords: failure analysis; fractography; Gates Glidden; SEM/EDS; torsional fatigue
Corresponding author: Dr. Youssef S. Al Jabbari, BDS, MS, FACP, PhD, Professor and Director, Dental Biomaterials Research and Development Chair, King Saud University, College of Dentistry, P.O.Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, Saudi Arabia, Phone: +966 1 4677325, Fax: +966 1 4679015

Funding source: King Saud University

Award Identifier / Grant number: ISPP# 0060

Funding statement: The International Scientific Partnership Program (ISPP) at King Saud University funded this research work (Grant/Award Number: “ISPP# 0060”).

  1. Author Statement

  2. Research funding: The International Scientific Partnership Program (ISPP) at King Saud University funded this research work (Grant/Award Number: “ISPP# 0060”).

  3. Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable.

  5. Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animals use.

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Received: 2016-12-09
Accepted: 2017-04-26
Published Online: 2017-07-19
Published in Print: 2018-07-26

©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bmt-2016-0245
Keywords for this article
failure analysis; fractography; Gates Glidden; SEM/EDS; torsional fatigue

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research articles
  3. A new in vitro spine test rig to track multiple vertebral motions under physiological conditions
  4. In-service characterization of a polymer wick-based quasi-dry electrode for rapid pasteless electroencephalography
  5. Spike detection using a multiresolution entropy based method
  6. Obstacles in using a computer screen for steady-state visually evoked potential stimulation
  7. Classification of pulmonary pathology from breath sounds using the wavelet packet transform and an extreme learning machine
  8. Filtering of ECG signals distorted by magnetic field gradients during MRI using non-linear filters and higher-order statistics
  9. Failure analysis of eleven Gates Glidden drills that fractured intraorally during post space preparation. A retrieval analysis study
  10. Assessing multiple muscle activation during squat movements with different loading conditions – an EMG study
  11. In-vivo monitoring of infection via implantable microsensors: a pilot study
  12. Analysis of structural brain MRI and multi-parameter classification for Alzheimer’s disease
  13. False spectra formation in the differential two-channel scheme of the laser Doppler flowmeter
  14. A priori knowledge integration for the detection of cerebral aneurysm
  15. Is the location of the signal intensity weighted centroid a reliable measurement of fluid displacement within the disc?
  16. Image-based 3D surface approximation of the bladder using structure-from-motion for enhanced cystoscopy based on phantom data
  17. Fused multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) and inverse solution method for EEG source localization
  18. Quantifying the dynamics of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals to distinguish alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects using an MSE based K-d tree algorithm
  19. A hybrid active force control of a lower limb exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation
  20. Short communication
  21. Can somatosensory electrical stimulation relieve spasticity in post-stroke patients? A TMS pilot study
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