ProTaper Ultimate® Slider, 21mm (6)

ProTaper Ultimate® · Slider · 21 mm

Glide pathSecuring the canal pathRestrictive dentine and calcifications

Start the glide path with the Slider – short teeth, same first file

Scouting every canal with a hand file before the rotary goes in is the step the Slider is designed to take over. It is built stiffer than the files after it so it can secure the canal path itself. In Dentsply Sirona’s own user evaluation it reached the terminus without a K-file in 63% of canals – and their procedure tells you exactly what to do in the rest. This is the 21 mm version – the same file on the shortest shaft, for short teeth or where opening is limited.

Sizes as Dentsply Sirona print them. Motor settings from their Fact File.

This pack: ProTaper Ultimate® Slider Rotary File, 21 mm (Pack of 6)
Dentsply Sirona · made by Maillefer Instruments Holding Sàrl, Ballaigues, Switzerland

What this file does

›  Deliberately a little rigid. Dentsply Sirona’s Fact File: the M-Wire® pre-treatment “allows a certain rigidity of the file to secure the pathway of the canal and to remove restrictive dentin and other calcifications without the systematic need of a K-File.”
›  Treated differently from the files after it. The Slider’s treatment is applied during wire production; the Shaper and Finishers are heat-treated after grinding.
›  Used in both sequences. Slider then Shaper for the standard sequence; Slider then FX for larger, straighter canals.

Where it sits in Dentsply Sirona’s sequence

1  Lubricant in, then Slider. “Select the Slider and PASSIVELY follow the canal, in one or more passes, to its terminus.” Determine working length with an apex locator and a radiograph, then confirm patency (step 4).

2  If it will not reach, go to a hand file. “Select a small-sized manual Stainless Steel (SST) hand file”, establish length, confirm patency and verify the Slidepath – then repeat the Slider (step 5).

3  Irrigate, then the Shaper. Irrigation needle to the coronal two-thirds (step 6), then the Shaper along the Slidepath to working length (step 7).

Paraphrased and quoted from the Dentsply Sirona, ProTaper Ultimate® step-by-step procedure. Your clinical judgement governs the case; the instructions for use govern the file.

What the 63% figure is. A Dentsply Sirona user evaluation: 21 dentists, 210 canals. 95% said the Slider gave a smooth, reproducible pathway to the apical terminus, without a K-file in 63% of cases. It is internal data on file rather than a published study, and it is a majority, not every canal – which is why step 5 exists.

Questions we get asked

So I never need a hand file first?
That is not what Dentsply Sirona say. The Slider can start the glide path in the majority of canals; where it does not easily reach the terminus, the procedure goes to a small stainless hand file, then back to the Slider. Keep one on the tray.

Why is the Slider not gold like the others?
Different job. The Fact File puts its M-Wire® treatment down to the rigidity needed to secure the canal and remove restrictive dentine; the Shaper and Finishers are gold- or blue-treated for flexibility in the curve.

Which motor?
400 rpm and 4–5.2 Ncm for every file in the range. Dentsply Sirona list a ProTaper Ultimate® library among the X-Smart® Go’s presets; on the X-Smart® Pro+ it is set as a custom sequence, and on the VDW.SILVER® in a Dr’s Choice slot (VDW manual: up to 4.1 Ncm). All three are linked below.

When do I throw it away?
Dentsply Sirona’s procedure: inspect the flutes on every removal, and if you see unwinding, straightening or stretching, discard it and use a new file.

Complete the case

ProTaper Ultimate® Slider, 21 mm (6) · 016.002v · M-Wire® heat treatment · NiTi rotary · 400 rpm, 4–5.2 Ncm · Dentsply Sirona · REF BSTPULR6210SL