ProTaper Ultimate® F2, 25mm (6)

ProTaper Ultimate® · Finisher F2 · 25 mm, pack of 6

Apical shapingCurved canalsDeep shapeStandard sequence

ProTaper Ultimate® F2: the fourth generation of ProTaper, and the Finisher at the centre of its sequence

F1 went to length loose, and its flutes came out clean. Dentsply Sirona’s procedure picks up F2: an ISO 25 tip on an 8% apical taper, gold heat-treated, and in their laboratory testing 30% more flexible and 30% more resistant to cyclic fatigue than the ProTaper Gold® F2 it follows.

Dentsply Sirona laboratory data on file (test 21/039), ProTaper Ultimate® F2 against ProTaper Gold® F2. Motor settings from their Fact File.

This pack: ProTaper Ultimate® F2 Rotary File, 25 mm (Pack of 6)
Dentsply Sirona · made by Maillefer Instruments Holding Sàrl, Ballaigues, Switzerland

Twenty years of ProTaper, one idea carried through

Since its first introduction 20 years ago, each generation of ProTaper from Dentsply Sirona has stood for a trusted, reliable and predictable preparation method that enables excellent clinical outcomes for patients worldwide.

Dentsply Sirona, ProTaper Ultimate® launch copy

The idea that has survived every generation is what Dentsply Sirona call deep shape – increased apical taper. Their Fact File sets out why: removing debris and smear layer by irrigation is less predictable in the apical part of the canal than the coronal, and the shape of the apical canal influences it. So every ProTaper Ultimate® Finisher carries an apical taper of at least 7%, and F2’s is 8%.

What is new in the fourth generation is how the work is divided. In Dentsply Sirona’s words: “The Slider is used to create a reproducible pathway to the apical/canal terminus and paves the way for the Shaper. The Shaper’s enhanced cutting efficiency and hauling of debris in the coronal two-thirds provides an easy and safe access to the apical third for the Finishers. The Finishers finally create the ProTaper Ultimate® deep shape.”

Three jobs, three heat treatments

Each file is treated for the job it does. The Slider is M-Wire®, treated during wire production for a certain rigidity to secure the canal path. The Shaper and F1 to F3 are gold heat-treated after grinding, for the curve. FX and FXL are blue. Every file runs at the same motor setting.

›  A parallelogram cross-section that changes along the file. Variable acute angles let Dentsply Sirona tune cutting efficiency to the workload in each part of the canal, which they say also helps flexibility and unwinding resistance.
›  Off-set, not centred. Alternating off-set machining puts the file’s centre of mass off its axis of rotation – less stress during cutting, more room for debris.

Against ProTaper Gold®, and from the people using it

Dentsply Sirona tested ProTaper Ultimate® against its own predecessor – a file we also stock, so the fair comparison. F2: +30% flexibility and +30% cyclic fatigue resistance. F1: +13% and +75%. Laboratory data on file (test 21/039), not a published study. In their user evaluation of 21 dentists and 210 canals, 95% reported a sufficient deep shape for disinfection and 85–90% sufficient flexibility and unwinding resistance – internal data, labelled as such.

Where F2 sits in the sequence, as Dentsply Sirona set it out

1  Slider to the terminus. In the presence of a lubricant, passively, in one or more passes. Working length by apex locator and radiograph; confirm patency. If the Slider does not easily reach, a small stainless steel hand file first, then the Slider again.

2  Irrigate. Irrigation needle in gently at the orifice, irrigating abundantly down to the coronal two-thirds.

3  Shaper to length. In the presence of NaOCl, along the Slidepath. On removal, irrigate, activate with the EndoActivator®, re-irrigate. Reconfirm working length.

4  F1, then read it. Passively to length. Apical flutes loaded with dentine: finished.

5  Loose and clean? F2. This file, the same way. Loaded: finished. Loose and clean again: F3.

6  Finished when the cone agrees. “The preparation is finished when the apical extent of any Finisher is loaded with debris, and the corresponding Gutta-Percha Point fits at the WL.”

Summarised and quoted from the Dentsply Sirona, ProTaper Ultimate® step-by-step procedure (linked under Downloads). Throughout: cradle the handpiece, avoid pushing, let the files progress passively; brushing outward or pecking lightly inward. Your clinical judgement governs the case; the instructions for use govern the file.

Irrigation is in the sequence, not beside it

Dentsply Sirona write irrigation into the procedure – after the Slider, after the Shaper, after every Finisher – with recapitulation using a size 10 file or the EndoActivator®, and a final 3-D disinfection before drying. A shorter file sequence shortens the mechanical part of the case, not the chemical one.

Dry, fill and seal: matched to F2

Dentsply Sirona’s obturation step is specific: dedicated ProTaper Ultimate® absorbent points and Conform Fit® gutta-percha matched to the colour code and size of the last instrument used to prepare the canal. Finished on F2, that is F2 paper points and F2 Conform Fit® cones.

The sealer goes with the cone, in the same step. On a Dentsply Sirona file, AH Plus® is the manufacturer’s own – the epoxy sealer every other one is measured against. If you work bioceramic, NeoSEALER® EZFlo comes premixed with fine 29-gauge NaviTip™ cannulas, 25 mm to match this file – Avalon Biomed’s instructions take the tip no further than the middle third and express the sealer with a steady outward movement. Resin or bioceramic is a real choice of technique rather than a ranking – we carry both because both are right in different hands.

Then the coronal seal. The apical seal is only half the job: SDR® flow+ Refill, Universal places in 4 mm increments with one cure.

Questions we get asked

Is F2 the file I will use most?
Dentsply Sirona’s procedure reaches F2 only when F1 is loose at length, and goes to F3 when F2 is too. The sequence pack puts all three on the tray until you know your own pattern.

Do I still need a hand file before the Slider?
Not systematically. In Dentsply Sirona’s user evaluation the Slider reached the terminus without a K-file in 63% of canals; where it does not easily reach, their procedure goes to a small stainless hand file – C-PILOT® 010, 25 mm – then back to the Slider.

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).

When do I throw a file away?
Inspect the flutes each time the file comes out. Dentsply Sirona: if deformation – unwinding, straightening or stretching – is noted, discard it and use a new file.

Complete the case

Downloads

›  ProTaper Ultimate® step-by-step guide (PDF, 0.4 MB, Dentsply Sirona, 2021) – both sequences and the full 20-step procedure. Printed at launch: the SmartLite Pro EndoActivator® it lists as coming soon is now in stock, and the sealer it names is no longer available – AH Plus® is Dentsply Sirona’s current epoxy sealer.

Worth knowing: FX and FXL are for larger and straighter canals only. The figures on this page are Dentsply Sirona’s own laboratory and user-evaluation data, not published studies. Full indications, warnings and reprocessing are in the instructions for use.

ProTaper Ultimate® F2, 25 mm (6) · 025.008v · ISO 25, 8% apical taper, variable · Gold heat treatment · parallelogram cross-section, off-set · NiTi rotary · 400 rpm, 4–5.2 Ncm · Dentsply Sirona · REF BSTPULR6250F2