The use of endodontically treated and/or fiber post-retained teeth as abutments for fixed partial dentures

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of endodontic treatment with or without fiber-post restorations on the fracture strength of abutment teeth under fixed partial dentures (FPDs). Seventy extracted premolar and canine teeth were used. Groups of fiber-post-retained and root-filled teeth were endodontically treated. The teeth were embedded in an acrylic resin perpendicular to the horizontal plane to create fixed partial dentures. The following groups were created using different abutments: (1) sound (S) canine/S premolar, (2) S canine/endodontically treated (ET) premolar, (3) ET canine/S premolar, (4) ET canine/ET premolar, (5) S canine/fiber-post-restored (FPR) premolar, (6) FPR canine/S premolar, and (7) FPR canine/FPR premolar. Each tooth was prepared for a complete-coverage full-metal crown. Impressions were taken; metal frameworks were fabricated and cemented. The samples were exposed to 5,000 cycles of thermomechanical fatigue and loaded compressively until fracture (2 mm/min). The data were statistically analyzed using (Kruskal-Wallis test, α = 0.05). No significant difference was found among the mean fracture strengths of the groups (p = 0.696). There were distinct differences in failure patterns. All of the fracture types were horizontal, and neither vertical nor non-restorable root fractures were recorded. Premolars seemed to be a critical abutment compared to canines when they were sound under FPDs. The percentage of cervical fractures was high in endodontically treated teeth when compared to post-retained groups. In case of post-debonding, the abutment fracture did not occur. When root-filled teeth are used as abutments for FPDs, fiber-post restorations or the creation of abutments from similar structures (ET/ET or FPR/FPR) results in improved conservation of root structure under loading when compared to the abutments from different structures (S/ET, ET/S, FPR/S, S/FPR).