ProTaper Next® X2, 25mm (3)

ProTaper Next® X2 · 025/.06v · 25 mm · pack of 3

ShapingCurved canalsM-Wire® NiTiSterile, single useVariable taper

Two files shape most canals. This is the second one

ProTaper Next® replaced ProTaper® Universal’s two shaping and five finishing files with five shaping files, and changed how they move: the cross-section is rectangular and set off centre, so the file swaggers down the canal instead of turning about its own middle. Dentsply Sirona’s own summary is that X1 and X2 do the work that S1, S2, F1 and F2 used to. X2 at 25 mm is where most preparations finish.

Two files: Dentsply Sirona UK, X1 and X2 against ProTaper® Universal’s S1, S2, F1 and F2. +25%: Dentsply internal data, available volume for debris, X2 and X3 against F2 and F3. 103 seconds against 196: Capar et al. 2014, ex vivo, against ProTaper® Universal.

This pack: ProTaper Next® X2 Rotary File, 25 mm (Pack of 3) · sterile, single use
Dentsply Sirona · legal manufacturer Dentsply DeTrey GmbH, Konstanz, Germany; UK representative Dentsply IH Ltd, Stonehouse (2025 IFU)

Key features

›  Off-centred rectangular section. Dentsply Sirona: “The patented design’s axis of rotation differs from the center of mass. As a result, only two points of the rectangular cross section touch the canal wall at a time.”
›  The swaggering movement. That offset gives the file what they call a snake-like swaggering movement through the canal, and “enlarged space for debris hauling”.
›  M-Wire® NiTi. Their proprietary thermal treatment: “improves file flexibility, while still retaining cutting efficiency”.
›  Variable taper. The taper eases coronally rather than running constant, so one instrument does the work of a crown-down step.
›  Sterile and single use. The 2025 IFU states STERILE – STERILIZED BY RADIATION, and that the instruments “are single use devices and cannot be reused”.
›  An 11 mm handle. Dentsply Sirona’s US literature puts the ProTaper Next handle at 11 mm against 13 mm on the original ProTaper – useful on second molars.

ProTaper® Universal or ProTaper Next®?

The sequence, as Dentsply Sirona set it out

1  Access and scout. Straight-line access, then small hand files to length, working length confirmed and patency checked. Irrigate throughout.

2  Glide path. Expand it by hand or with a mechanical glide path file before X1 goes in.

3  X1, then X2. In the presence of sodium hypochlorite, follow the glide path with X1 in one or more passes to working length. Irrigate, recapitulate with a small hand file, re-irrigate, then use X2 the same way.

4  Gauge. Inspect X2’s apical flutes, or gauge the foramen with an ISO 25 hand file. Snug at length and the canal is shaped; loose and you continue to X3, then X4 or X5, gauging after each with the matching hand file.

“The ProTaper NEXT sequence is always the same regardless of the length, diameter or curvature of the canal”

Dr Clifford J. Ruddle, ProTaper Next technique card, Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties, 2013. A US document – his torque figure differs from the current EU IFU and we follow the IFU.

What the literature says

Two independent laboratory groups have measured ProTaper Next against ProTaper Universal and found less debris pushed past the apex: Capar et al., Journal of Endodontics 2014 (ex vivo, mandibular premolars) also recorded shaping at 103 seconds against 196, and Cakici et al., International Journal of Artificial Organs 2016 found the same direction in curved canals. On the question that worries people most about a stiffer file in a curved root, De-Deus et al., Journal of Endodontics 2015 scanned the same teeth before and after by micro-CT and concluded that preparation “did not induce the formation of new dentinal microcracks”; Miguéns-Vila et al., Journal of Endodontics 2021 repeated it in curved molar roots against ProTaper Gold and WaveOne Gold and found the same. All four are laboratory studies on extracted teeth.

Questions we get asked

Do I need a glide path first?
Yes – the IFU has you scout with small hand files, confirm working length and patency, and expand the glide path by hand or with a mechanical glide path file before X1. ProGlider®, 25 mm · a single 016/.02v file, and the instrument the IFU sequence expects before X1.

What settings?
300 rpm at 2–3 Ncm, from the June 2025 IFU. The 2017 brochure quotes 2–5.2 Ncm across the whole family and a US technique card quotes 4–5.2 Ncm; we follow the current IFU. Both X-Smart® Pro+ and X-Smart® Pro will run it.

Can they be re-used?
No. The IFU is explicit: single use devices that cannot be reused, supplied sterile, sterilised by radiation. Re-use raises the risk of cross-contamination and of breakage.

Which gutta percha and paper points?
The matched ones: Conform Fit® gutta percha, X2, and ProTaper Next® paper points, X2 · or the X2–X3 box. A variable-taper preparation wants a cone cut to the same shape.

Complete the case

Downloads

›  ProTaper Next® brochure (PDF, 2.0 MB, Dentsply Sirona) – the range brochure. Still the current revision – 01/2017, updated 11/2017

Tip sizes and tapers are Dentsply Sirona’s, from the ProTaper Next® tip card and confirmed in the June 2025 IFU. Speed and torque are from that IFU; the 2017 brochure quotes a wider 2–5.2 Ncm range across the whole family and a US technique card quotes 4–5.2 Ncm, so we follow the current regulatory document. X2 red and X3 blue are Dentsply Sirona’s own, from the Conform Fit® gutta-percha brochure; the other colour rings are as they appear on Dentsply Sirona’s product renders, and are a recognition aid rather than a published specification. Studies named above are laboratory work on extracted teeth and are not clinical outcome data.

REF A080322500203 · ProTaper Next® X2, 25 mm, pack of 3 · sterile, single use · also in 21 mm and 31 mm