ProTaper Gold vs WaveOne Gold

Ten comparative full texts were read for this pair: five shaping studies in extracted teeth, three in resin or 3D-printed canals, one dentinal-defect study and one student-operator series. Both systems carry Dentsply's Gold heat treatment, but they differ in almost everything else: Gold is a five-file rotary sequence with a convex triangular cross-section and an 8 % apical taper on F2, WaveOne Gold Primary is a single reciprocating file with an off-centred parallelogram and a 7 % apical taper.

In extracted teeth the shaping results split by method. In 45 mesiobuccal roots with 25 to 30 degrees of curvature, Gold transported more and centred less at 3, 5 and 7 mm and removed more dentin volume than WaveOne Gold, in a design where each file prepared three canals (PMID 31620381). In 40 mandibular molars with 10 to 20 degrees of curvature imaged by synchrotron micro-CT, apical transportation did not differ between the two systems (PMID 33885391). In 96 mesiobuccal canals prepared to large apical sizes, mesiodistal transportation was the same for both, Gold sat in the higher group for buccolingual transportation and WaveOne Gold in the lower, and WaveOne Gold had the lowest mesiodistal centring at 4 mm below the furcation (PMID 29456772). In single-rooted teeth Gold removed the least dentin at 2 mm from the apex while WaveOne Gold removed the least at 5 and 8 mm (PMID 39881914).

In simulated S-shaped canals the two files trade thirds. WaveOne Gold removed less resin at most levels and stayed more centred at the apex, while Gold centred better and transported less at 4 to 6 mm and preserved the coronal curvature better; neither transported more than 0.2 mm apically and no file fractured (PMID 35028067). A second S-shaped series found more transportation with Gold at 2 and 3 mm and a longer preparation time, 245.75 s against 170.75 s (PMID 34656099). A third resin-block study found no difference in shaping capacity between the two (PMID 35591361).

Two studies put the files in student hands. Twenty-one sophomore students shaping 3D-printed mandibular molars produced less transportation with WaveOne Gold in the apical and middle thirds of the mesiolingual canal and in the middle third of the mesiobuccal canal, better centring with WaveOne Gold in the middle and apical mesiolingual levels but better centring with Gold at the coronal level, a shorter time (218 s against 446.6 s per tooth) and a 90.48 % preference for WaveOne Gold; no file separated (PMID 41937231). Thirty-six third-year students on S-shaped resin blocks deviated less apically with Gold (0.073 mm against 0.081 mm), caused more mid-cervical wear with WaveOne Gold, took the same time with both (6 min 27 s against 6 min 34 s) and rated Gold highest for satisfaction (PMID 39590413).

On dentinal defects, straight premolars sectioned after preparation showed cracks or craze lines in 40 % of Gold roots, 53.3 % of WaveOne Gold roots and 30 % of ProTaper Next roots, with more apical defects after the reciprocating file; each instrument set prepared four canals (PMID 35017937). The micro-CT microcrack study of this pair is paywalled and was not read.

No head-to-head cyclic-fatigue study of these two files was among the obtained full texts, and the two clinical outcomes that matter most, postoperative pain and healing, were not compared in any of them.