Success and survival of post-restorations: six-year results of a prospective observational practice-based clinical...

This prospective, noninterventional, multi-centre, practice-based study aimed to evaluate the longevity of endodontically treated teeth (ETT) restored with posts and to analyse factors influencing the success and survival of endodontic posts.

Eight general dental practitioners each placed up to 27 endodontic posts without any restriction to size and material. Teeth were restricted to incisors, canines and premolars. Multi-level Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between clinical factors and time until failure.

A total of 195 endodontic posts were followed-up for up to 6.5 years in 195 patients. Of these, 140 posts were judged as successful [mean success time: 59 (55-63) months]; the mean annual failure rate was 8.6%. This decreased to 4.4% when excluding recementations. 152 posts survived [mean survival time: 64 (60-67) months]. Recemented restorations had an eight times higher failure rate compared with new restorations. Furthermore, restorations with glass fibre post had a significantly lower success rate compared with titanium posts.

Relatively low success and survival rates occurred for restorations with posts after root canal treatment in a private practice setting after a follow-up of up to 6.5 years. Recemented crowns had a high risk of failure.