Polyethylene ribbon fibers: a new alternative for restoring badly destroyed primary incisors

Dentistry has advanced to the point where it is undesirable for children to be partially edentulous or to have unattractive anterior teeth. With the introduction of new materials and adhesive systems the use of polyethylene fibers as post and core offer a new reconstructive alternative for severely destroyed primary anterior teeth. These fibers offer root and coronal retention, stability and esthetics, and it is done chair side. The present study compared two different types of fibers and analyzed the fracture resistance between the two of them. Two groups were formed. Group I used non pre-impregnated resin fibers (glasSpan) and group II used pre-impregnated resin fibers (Splint-it). Both types of fibers have been used as post and core in the restoration of primary teeth and clinical studies have been published. Our results indicated that the mean fracture resistance for group I was 71.346 and for group II 97.952 (p = 0.004). During the observation of the fractured samples, adhesive failures were noted for group I at the junction between the fiber and its core to the interior wall of the root canal. In group II, the fibers were dislodged out of the canal and the core part of the canal remained intact. It can be concluded that pre-impregnated fibers offer a better fracture resistance when used as post in endodontically treated primary anterior teeth.