In vitro retention of prefabricated and individually formed posts: A pilot study

Abstract

Statement of problem: Data on the retention of individually formed fiber-reinforced composite posts (everStick) cemented with self-adhesive cement are lacking.

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the pull-out strength of 2 different fiber-reinforced composite posts (prefabricated and individually formed) cemented into extracted teeth with self-adhesive resin cement.

Material and methods: Thirty extracted single-rooted human teeth were decoronated, endodontically treated, and prepared with post spaces of equal length. Prepared specimens were divided into 2 groups (n=15 each) based on the type of post: commercially prefabricated fiber posts (GC) and individually formed resin posts (using GC reinforcing fibers). Self-adhesive resin cement (G-CEM LinkAce; GC) was used to cement all posts. Each post was held with moderate pressure, and root surfaces were light polymerized for 20 seconds (650 mW/cm²). After cementation, the specimens were stored in saline solution for 30 days. Treated teeth were kept in water for 24 hours before pull-out testing parallel to the longitudinal axis of the posts. Data were analyzed using the Student t test (α=.05) and the coefficient of variance as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean.

Results: The mean pull-out retention strength was 185.7 ±61.2 N for the prefabricated fiber posts and 98.9 ±56.5 N for the individually formed fiber posts (P=.026).

Conclusions: The prefabricated fiber posts exhibited significantly higher retention forces than the individually formed posts.