Fracture resistance of teeth restored with different post systems: in vitro study.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate fracture resistance and mode of failure of teeth restored with different prefabricated post systems.

Study Design: Thirty teeth were collected, sectioned 15 mm from the apex, root canal prepared, and randomly allocated into 3 groups as follows: glass fiber posts (group 1), carbon fiber posts (group 2), and Radix-Anchor titanium posts (group 3). Teeth were then restored with a composite core and tested using a universal testing machine at 10 mm/min cross-head speed. Mode of failure was identified as either reparable or irreparable (catastrophic).

Results: Mean values of fracture forces (N) for teeth restored with Radix posts (571.6) were statistically significantly higher than teeth restored with either carbon fiber (420.6) or glass fiber posts (393.9). There were 86.67% of fractures that were catastrophic in nature.

Conclusions: Teeth restored with Radix-titanium posts were more resistant to fracture than those restored with either carbon or glass fiber posts. Most of the fracture modes were catastrophic in nature.