ProGlider® 31mm (3)

ProGlider® · 16/.02 · 31 mm · 3 files

Glide pathCurved canalsOne file to lengthBefore shaping

The length that reaches, when the scouting file has to reach too

Long canals are where a glide path earns its keep, and also where the scouting step gets awkward, because the hand file has to reach the same length the rotary file will. ProGlider® in 31 mm handles the second half of that job with one instrument. The first half needs a hand file long enough to match, and there is a note below on why that matters more here than on the shorter lengths.

This pack: ProGlider® Rotary Glide Path File, ISO Size 16, .02 Variable Taper, 31mm (Pack of 3) · Sterile
REF A092323100103 · Made by Dentsply Sirona (Maillefer), Switzerland

Key features

›  One instrument for the whole glide path. Dentsply Sirona: "ProGlider’s unique shape simplifies glide path creation, accomplishing the work of multiple files in one."

›  An ISO 16 tip on a variable progressive taper – .02 at the tip, widening steadily along the blade. Dentsply contrast that with constant .02 glide path files: the variable design "facilitates an expanded coronal preflaring for shaping files to follow." One size only, and it carries a white ring, so there is nothing to select on the tray.

›  Cut from M-Wire® NiTi, which Dentsply Sirona describe as "proven to provide flexibility & high resistance against cyclic fatigue."

›  Supplied sterile in a blister of three, single patient use.

›  Runs on any endodontic motor at 300 rpm, continuous rotation, torque set between 2 and 5.2 Ncm.

›  Three lengths on the same geometry – ProGlider® 21 mm and ProGlider® 25 mm sit beside this one.

What the independent studies found

Zheng and colleagues compared glide paths cut with hand K-files, with PathFile® and with ProGlider in sixty mesial canals of extracted mandibular first molars, scanning each canal three times by micro-CT. Both engine-driven files transported the canal significantly less than the K-files at every level measured, and both extruded less debris apically. ProGlider had the shortest working time of the three; the K-files had the longest. (Zheng L et al., BMC Oral Health 2018 – ex vivo, micro-computed tomography, Nanjing Medical University, no competing interests declared.)

A separate randomised clinical trial in 240 patients, treated by four specialists, measured postoperative pain after the glide path was cut three different ways. Patients in the ProGlider group and the R-PILOT® group reported significantly less pain than those whose glide path was cut with stainless steel K-files, and there was no significant difference between the two engine-driven files. (Keskin C et al., International Endodontic Journal 2019 – randomised clinical trial.)

Dentsply Sirona separately publish a 40% reduction in glide path time against multiple hand files. That one is their own measurement – the brochure footnotes it "Internal testing. Data on file" – not a published result.

ProGlider or a hand-file glide path?

The first four rows are Zheng, and describe extracted teeth. The last is Keskin, and is the one measured in patients.

Technique, as Dentsply Sirona set it out

These are the manufacturer’s own directions, in their order. They are not a QED protocol.

1  Straightline access. Prepare straightline access to the canal orifice.

2  Scout. Explore the canal with a .010 hand file – an ISO 010 hand file long enough to reach working length in a 31 mm canal is the house choice.

3  Working length. Establish it with an apex locator and/or a radiograph, and confirm patency and a smooth glide path.

4  Irrigate. The directions say to irrigate the root canal "copiously and frequently during the procedure".

5  ProGlider to length. One or more passes, to full working length.

6  Irrigate again. Flush the expanded glide path.

7  Reconfirm. Check working length once more before the mechanised NiTi shaping files go in.

A note specific to 31 mm. Step 2 needs a hand file that reaches working length, and the C-PILOT® range stops at 25 mm. On this length, take the requirement from the directions – an ISO 010 – and use a 31 mm hand file. A 25 mm file would be shorter than the canal, so we have not linked one here.

Motor settings

300 rpm, continuous rotation, torque 2–5.2 Ncm, with light apical pressure. Those are Dentsply Sirona’s figures. Both motors we stock will run it: X-Smart® Pro+ with apex locator and VDW.SILVER® RECIPROC®.

Questions we get asked

Does ProGlider replace the hand file entirely?
No, and the directions do not claim it does. Step 2 still has you scout the canal with a .010 hand file and establish working length before ProGlider goes in. What it replaces is the sequence of progressively larger hand files that used to follow.

What does "variable progressive taper" actually mean?
The blade widens more towards the handle than a constant .02 file does. As a ratio, .02 means 0.02 mm of diameter gained per millimetre of length – the same figure written as a percentage is 2 per cent. Cliff Ruddle, who is closely associated with Dentsply Sirona and developed ProTaper, gives the progression as 2% to 8% and the diameter at D16 as 0.82 mm. Dentsply publish the tip figure only.

Can I use it before a reciprocating file as well as a rotary one?
Dentsply Sirona name both. Their brochure says it "enhances the simplicity of the WaveOne solution" and, separately, that it is "an excellent choice when combined with PROTAPER NEXT". Both are in the table below.

Can the files be reused?
No – sterile, single patient use. Dentsply’s own reasoning is practical: one file is doing the work of several, so it is asked to do more within a case.

How does it compare with R-PILOT?
They answer the same question in different motions. ProGlider rotates continuously at 300 rpm; R-PILOT® reciprocates and runs on the RECIPROC ALL setting, so a practice already on a reciprocating motor changes nothing to use it. The clinical trial above found no significant difference between them in postoperative pain.

Complete the case

On the sealer, resin or bioceramic is a real choice of technique rather than a ranking – we carry both because both are right in different hands. AH Plus® is Dentsply Sirona’s own and the epoxy sealer every other one is measured against; NeoSEALER® EZFlo is premixed, and its 29 gauge cannulas place sealer in the apical third rather than wiping it down the coronal walls.

The other glide path options we stock

Downloads

›  ProGlider® brochure (PDF, 1.0 MB, Dentsply Sirona) – the geometry, the motor settings and the product range.

The current Instructions for Use are held by Dentsply Sirona and are available on request.

ProGlider® Rotary Glide Path File · ISO 16 tip, white · .02 apical taper, variable and progressive along the blade · M-Wire® NiTi · 31 mm · sterile, single patient use · blister of 3 · 300 rpm, 2–5.2 Ncm, continuous rotation · REF A092323100103