Vortex Blue
Instrumentation
David Landwehr D.D.S., M.S.
Capital Endodontics
Madison, Wisconsin
WHY BLUE?
“Blue Wire” NiTi from post-grind
heat treatment
Proprietary processing results in
consistent Titanium Oxide layer
providing blue appearance
Design Characteristics
11 mm handle
Safe ended tip
Active blade
Patented variable helical angle
.04 and .06 tapers
ISO sizes 15 through 50
Helical Angle
Comparison
Higher helical
Lower helical
angle
angle (less
(more flutes) at
flutes)
tip
for efficiency
for flexibility
Comparison of File
Materials
Flexibility Torque Strength Cyclic Fatigue Resistance
Vortex Blue® File Design
Identical to Original Vortex®
• Same Torque Settings
• Same Speed Settings
• Same ISO Sizes
• Same Technique
Cyclic Fatigue
Vortex Blue®
ProFile® Vortex® with M-Wire® Niti
Average Fatigue Life (cycle)
TF™ Twisted File
Cyclic Fatigue
•At least 65% and up to 353% better than
original Profile Vortex® with M-Wire®
NiTi
•At least 37% and up to 181% better than
TF™ Twisted File
Torque Fatigue
Vortex Blue®
ProFile® Vortex® with M-Wire® Niti
TF™ Twisted File
Peak Torque (in-oz)
Torque Fatigue
At least 42% and up to 126% better
than original Profile Vortex®
At least 31% and up to 178% better
than TF™ Twisted File
Shape Memory
ProFile® Vortex® Rotary File
Vortex Blue® Rotary File
Standard “super elastic”” NiTi can revert to original straight
®
position
Vortex Blue with reduced shape memory holds curvature
Why Less Shape Left Canal Instrumented Right Canal
Memory? with ProFile® Vortex® Instrumented with
Vortex Blue®
Vortex Blue® follows natural
curvature of tooth
Micro CT scan – tooth
instrumented with
Vortex Blue® (right canal)
shows ability to follow original
canal path
Red = original canal
Green = instrumented canal
Vortex Blue showed a
significant increase in
cyclic fatigue
resistance when
compared with the
same sizes of ProFile
Vortex
JOE 2014
The risk of ProFile Vortex
and Vortex Blue
instrument fracture is very
low
The Vortex Blue files have
metallurgical behavior
different from ProFile
Vortex instruments
J Endod 2015;41:937–942
Vortex Blue and M-Wire offered
functional advantages over
conventional superelastic NiTi
Vortex Blue showed improved
fatigue resistance and flexibility
compared with ProFile Vortex M-
Wire
JOE 2012
