Comparison of Different Post Systems for Fracture Resistance: An in vitro Study

Endodontic restoration becomes a challenging task for the clinician because of severe loss of coronal tooth structure owing to trauma, caries, restorative, and endodontic procedures. The restoration of these teeth requires the use of a post and core as individual units or as abutment supports for fixed or removable restorations in a predictable long-term manner.

To compare and assess the compressive bond strength of glass, quartz, and carbon fiber posts restored with porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crown.

A total of 45 upper central incisor teeth having straight root canals, similar anatomically root segments, and fully developed apices were selected. Teeth were divided into three groups of 15 teeth after endodontic treatment. Group I: Teeth inserted with the prefabricated glass fiber post. Group II: Teeth inserted with the quartz fiber post. Group III: Teeth inserted with carbon fiber post. The posts were placed and core was fabricated using composite restoration followed by PFM crown cementation using adhesive resin. Compressive load required to fracture the tooth was measured using a universal loading machine. The difference between the variables was assessed by one-way analysis of variance, followed by Tukey's post hoc test.

The compressive strength exhibited by carbon fiber posts was highest with a mean of 668.33 ± 26.397, followed by quartz fiber post (635.80 ± 30.390). Least compressive strength was exhibited by glass fiber post (567.53 ± 26.632). An analysis of variance shows statistically highly significant difference (p < 0.005) among the posts used.

This study concluded that the carbon fiber posts had higher compressive strength than other quartz, glass fiber posts.

Endodontic treatment results in loss of a significant part of the tooth structure. Posts restore these teeth and provide retention.