Bond strengths of custom cast and prefabricated posts luted with two cements

This in vitro study evaluated the bond strength of custom cast and prefabricated posts luted with resin or zinc phosphate cements into unobturated canals of extracted teeth.

Forty-eight custom cast and prefabricated posts were placed into extracted single-rooted human teeth. Post-cavity preparation was 1.5 mm in diameter and 10 mm in depth. Specimens were randomly divided into 4 groups of 12 each. Two of the groups were then luted with resin cement, while the other two groups were luted with zinc phosphate cement. A pull-out bond strength evaluation was performed using a universal testing machine. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to prove normal distribution. Data were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA and the Student t test (alpha = .05).

For both luting agents, the prefabricated posts group exhibited significantly less bond strength than the custom cast posts group (P = .0001). There were statistically significant differences in mean bond strength for the prefabricated posts group luted with resin cement vs the group cemented with zinc phosphate cement (P = .002). There was no significant difference between the mean bond strength values of custom cast posts luted with resin cement or zinc phosphate cement.

Custom cast posts showed significantly greater bond strength than prefabricated posts when luted with either resin or zinc phosphate cements. The type of cement had less significance on the retention of custom cast posts.