Restoring a failed prefabricated post and core with a sleeve casting: a clinical report

A clinical case is described, and a technique is explained for making a custom sleeve cast post and core to salvage a fractured crown previously treated with an unretrievable prefabricated post. The restorative problem was to design and fabricate some sort of cast post and core that could be cemented to the remaining post. The amalgam and cement in the pulp chamber and coronal portion of the root canal were carefully removed so that a direct pattern could be made to form a tube which would surround the coronal part of the existing post like a sleeve. This sleeve casting was designed to provide attachment for a core to support a new restoration. This direct pattern technique results in a retained core that joins the already cemented post and provides a sound core for the retention of a new crown.