The mandibular incisor: rethinking guidelines for post and core design

In post and core research, little attention has been given to the tooth with minimal bulk and mesialdistal width. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate retention and fracture characteristics of lower incisors restored with variable dowel designs. Fifty freshly extracted mandibular incisors were endodontically treated. Four groups of 10 teeth, decoronalized and dowel- and core-restored, were tested for retention characteristics and fracture resistance. One group of 10 teeth restored with composite resin in intact natural crown acted as controls. Dowel variables included a prefabricated round cross-sectional design and a morphologic dowel that reproduced the canal space. A universal testing machine created tensile and transverse loads, and failure was measured and recorded. Results showed no difference in resistance to transverse loading between morphological and standardized dowels (p > 0.05). However, when analyzing modes of failure, ferruled morphological post and core design was less likely to result in a catastrophic root or post fracture. In addition, morphological dowels were significantly more retentive than standardized round dowels in teeth with narrow cross-sections (p = 0.007). This study also reaffirmed the findings of previous investigations, that the intact natural crown of an endodontically treated tooth provides maximum resistance to root fracture.