The present invention provides a system for the endodontic treatment of a root canal, comprising (i) an endodontic instrument; (ii) an endodontic handpiece having a drive motor for rotating the endodontic instrument releasably attached to the handpiece; (iii) a control unit for controlling the rotation of the endodontic instrument according to one or more predetermined rotational sequences; the rotational sequences comprising reciprocating the endodontic instrument by continuously sequentially rotating the endodontic instrument in a first direction followed by reversing the direction of rotation so that 0.5 �¢ x¨ ‰¤ ± <; ¨ and 3 ‰¤ ± / ² ‰¤ 20 , wherein ± represents a rotational angle in a direction in which the rotating endodontic instrument removes debris from the root canal, ² represents a rotational angle in the opposite direction, and ¨ represents the elastic angle of the endodontic instrument at which plastic deformation occurs in the direction of ±.