鎳鈦旋轉器械在承受張應力(tension)和壓應力(compression)的循環應力作用下,在臨床上往往會導致無預警斷裂的發生。本文提出對鎳鈦旋轉器械疲勞試驗的明確測試規範,並利用自行設計的實驗機台產生10、7.5、5mm曲率半徑搭配60°、40°、20°曲率角度的彎道,給予鎳鈦旋轉器械不同程度的彎曲以獲得其疲勞壽命。結果顯示,曲率角度固定,曲率半徑愈小;或是曲率半徑固定曲率角度愈大的彎道,疲勞壽命就愈短。利用有限元素分析軟體模擬與實驗相同條件的情況下,根管銼彎曲的狀況以獲得最大應變值。疲勞實驗中根管銼的斷裂位置與模擬中最大應變發生位置極為相近,皆位於約彎曲長度的40%~60%。結合疲勞壽命實驗數據和模擬應變值,則可得到S-N curve。 同時本文亦針對鎳鈦旋轉器械的切削性能提出新的測試方法,也做出切削實驗的測試機台。Protaper Universal F2和F3在45sec內對壓克力圓柱的切削實驗顯示,距根管銼尖端0~5mm部份切削量最小、5~10mm部份切削量最大、10~15mm部份則與5~10mm部份相近或略小。藉由將Protaper Universal F2重複進行4次切削實驗,可觀察到鎳鈦旋轉器械的磨耗情形,距根管銼尖端0~5mm部份在重複第3次切削實驗後切削量有顯著下降。而5~10mm和10~15mm的部份則在重複第2次切削就出現切削量下降。本文更進一步透過比較Profile .04和.06之鎳鈦旋轉器械的切削效率,探究根管銼直徑尺寸與切削量的關係。此外,比較Protaper Universal F2在5mm和10mm位置的切削量則可得知刀刃長度和切削量的關係。從實驗結果發現,鎳鈦旋轉器械的切削量與其所在位置的直徑大小約成反比,和刀刃長度成正比。此結果仍需更多實驗確認其適用範圍。
Endodontic rotary instruments subjected to tensile and compressive stress in canal may fracture without any warning. This research presented a systematic method to test fatigue properties of rotary instrument. An equipment has been established to test the fatigue lives of rotary instruments under different canal settings. A series of FEM analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the position and magnitude of the maximum principal strain in rotary instrument for the above settings. The maximum strain positions largely locate at 40%~60% bent length behind the tip of the instrument and are quite consistent with the fracture positions in the fatigue experiments. By combining the strain and the fatigue life data, we can have the S-N curve to represent the fatigue property of the rotary instrument. This study also established a method to evaluate cutting ability of rotary instrument. By comparing different types of rotary instruments, we discovered that the amount of cutting relates to the ratio of pitch length and diameter of rotary instrument.