Cyclic Loading of Endodontically Treated Teeth Restored with Glass Fibre and Titanium Alloy Posts: Fracture Resistance and Failure Modes.

Abstract - The aims of this in-vitro investigation were to compare the fracture resistance and the failure modes of endodontically treated teeth restored with glass fibre-reinforced posts with those of teeth restored with titaniumalloy posts. A total of 60 single-rooted human mandibular premolars were endodontically treated. The teeth were divided into two experimental and one control group. Post spaces 9mm long were prepared in the roots of the experimental groups in which glass fibre-reinforced posts (Group A) and titanium-alloy posts (Group B) were cemented. In the control group (Group C), no post was inserted. The specimens were stored in normal saline for a period of three weeks before being intermittently loaded at an angle of 30° degrees to the long axis of the tooth at a frequency of two loads of 40N per second. Log-rank test used for the overall analysis revealed that there was no significant difference of fracture resistance between teeth restored with glass fibre-reinforced posts (Group A) and titanium-alloy posts (Group B). The survival of the control group was found to be significantly inferior to that of the experimental groups. There was no significant difference in the number of failures between the two experimental groups. There was significantly more core and post failure for the glass fibre-reinforced posts, root and core failure for the titanium-alloy posts and core failure for the control group. The results suggest that post failures are more frequent in teeth restored with quartz fibre posts and root fractures are more frequent in teeth restored with titanium posts.

KEY WORDS: Fibre posts, Titanium posts, Endodontics, Fracture test