A Comparative Evaluation of Extruded Apical Debris and Irrigant by Three Rotary NI-TI Systems and Step Back Technique

Background: The extruded debris and irrigant out of the apex during root canal treatment are one of the major causes of untoward events that can happen during root canal therapy. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the extruded debris and irrigant by using three rotary Ni-Ti systems and one hand instrumentation technique. Method: Forty single-rooted freshly extracted teeth were randomly and equally divided into the four groups. The teeth were fitted in the preweighed Eppendorf's tubes using analytic weight measuring machine. The teeth were instrumented with Protaper universal (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) in Group I, Protaper next (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) in Group II, Adaptive file system (TFA; SybronEndo, Orange, CA) in Group III and Step back technique in Group IV. The extruded irrigant was measured first calculating the equal amount in different but similar Eppendorf tube using the micropipette and comparing the level of irrigant. After drying the tubes in incubator, the final weights of the Eppendorf's tubes were measured, and differences of the mean weights were calculated. All the data was put to statistical analysis using SPSS 20.0 and p<0.05 was set as significant. Results: The extrusion of irrigant was statistically significantly higher in step back as compared to other techniques whereas results of debris extrusion were not statistically significant.