Comparison of apical debris extrusion during root canal preparation using instrumentation techniques with two operating principles: An in vitro study

AIMS: The aim of this study was to quantify the debris extruded apically from teeth using rotary and reciprocation instrumentation systems. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eighty extracted human mandibular premolars with single canals and similar lengths were instrumented using ProTaper Universal (40, 06; Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland), ProTaper Next (40, 06; Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland), WaveOne (40, 06; Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland), and Reciproc (R40; VDW GmbH, Munich, Germany). Debris extruded during instrumentation was collected into preweighed Eppendorf tubes, which were then stored in an incubator at 70°C for 5 days. The final weight of the Eppendorf tubes with the extruded debris was calculated after obtaining the mean of three consecutive weights obtained for each tube. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0 software. The groups were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test for all variables. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups (P = 0.1114). However, the ProTaper Universal group produced more extrusion and ProTaper Next produced least debris extrusion among the instrument groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: All instrumentation techniques were associated with extruded debris.