Fiber Reinforcement of Endodontically Treated Teeth: What Options Do We Have? Literature Review

The restoration of endodontically treated teeth (ETT), even though practiced for many years, remains a major concern in dentistry. There is a variety of materials and clinical techniques advocated for restoring ETT and hundreds of studies devoted to this subject have been published in the dental literature. This narrative review article was undertaken to answer a question regarding restoration of ETT with available evidence: What fiber reinforcement options do we have other than prefabricated fiber post? Using a Medline search (up to 2019) and resulting cross-references, authors selected original research on the topic of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) and restoration of ETT. Of the assessed articles selected (n=79), most were laboratory-based research with various test specimen designs and only 15 articles were clinical reports. From the reviewed studies, using individually formed FRC posts and short-FRC resin showed promising characteristics, and therefore, might be recommended as an alternative treatment option in restoring ETT. However, long-term clinical trials are needed in order to evaluate the usefulness of these alternatives.