| Summary: | Apical extrusion of debris (AED) by the full sequence of the self-adjusting file (SAF) system was compared with that of the XP-endo shaper plus sequence. Sixty permanent mandibular incisors were randomly assigned to two groups (<i>n</i> = 30) for root canal instrumentation: Group A: Stage 1—pre-SAF OS, pre-SAF 1 and pre-SAF 2 files, followed by Stage 2—1.5 mm SAF; and Group B: Stage 1— hand K-file 15/0.02, followed by Stage 2—XP-endo shaper and Stage 3—XP-endo finisher. The AED produced during instrumentation at each stage was collected in pre-weighed Eppendorf tubes. The weights of AED by the two methods were compared using <i>t</i> tests with significance level set at 5%. Group A produced significantly less total AED than Group B (<i>p</i> < 0.001), with no significant difference in debris extrusion between the two stages (<i>p</i> = 0.3014). Conversely, in Group B, a significant difference was noted between Stage 1 and Stages 2 and 3 (<i>p</i> < 0.01), with no significant difference between Stages 2 and 3 (<i>p</i> = 0.488). Both sequences resulted in measurable amounts of AED. Each phase, in either procedure, made its own contribution to the extrusion of debris.
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