Retention of radicular posts varying the application technique of the adhesive system and luting agent

This study evaluated in vitro the retention of intracanal cast posts cemented with dual-cure resin varying the application method of the primer/adhesive solution and luting agent in the prosthetic space prepared to receive the posts. Sixty endodontically treated maxillary canines had their crowns discarded, and their roots were embedded in acrylic resin. The prosthetic spaces were prepared with Largo burs mounted on a low-speed handpiece coupled to a parallelometer in order to maintain length and diameter of intraradicular posts constant and to guarantee that the preparations were parallel after casting. Two groups (n = 30) were randomly formed according to the device used to apply the adhesive system: microbrush or standard bristle brush (control). Each group was divided into 3 subgroups (n = 10) according to the technique used to place the luting agent into the root canal: using only a lentulo spiral before setting the post, applying it onto the post surface, or combining both methods. After 72 hours, the tensile force required to dislodge each post was determined by a universal testing machine (Instron 4444) set at a speed of 1 mm/min. The results indicated that the use of the microbrush yielded higher bond strength values (0.1740 +/- 0.04 kN) than those recorded for the bristle brush tip (0.1369 +/- 0.04 kN, p < 0.001). Bonferroni's test demonstrated a higher retention (p < 0.001) in radicular post cemented with the technique that combined both methods (lentulo + post: 0.1787 +/- 0.03 kN) than that obtained with lentulo (0.1461 +/- 0.065 kN) or post (0.1416 +/- 0.03 kN) alone. The interactions between the adhesive system and luting agent application techniques presented statistical difference (p < 0.001). It was concluded that the best performance in terms of tensile strength among the tested conditions was obtained when the adhesive system was applied with a microbrush and the luting agent was taken into the root canal with lentulo spirals alone (0.1961 +/- 0.04 kN) and combining both methods (lentulo + post: 0.1911 +/- 0.02 kN).