Effect of fiber post length and bone level on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth

This study evaluated the combined influence of horizontal bone loss and post length on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth (ETT). Twenty premolars were endodontically treated and divided into four groups of two different post insertion depths (5 and 7 mm) and two alveolar bone levels from cement-enamel junction (2 and 5 mm). After posts (RelyX Fiber Post) were cemented using a self-adhesive resin cement (RelyX Unicem Aplicap) and cores were built up (Filtek Supreme XT Universal Restorative, 3M ESPE, USA), cobalt-chrome copings were luted to each prepared tooth. All specimens were subjected to thermocycling and mechanical loading until fracture occurred. Mean fracture loads (N) were 1,445±342.2 (2 mm bone level/5 mm depth), 1,516±413.4 (2 mm bone level/7 mm depth), 1,736.4±1113.8 (5 mm bone level/5 mm depth), 1,038.6±600.2 (5 mm bone level/7 mm depth). No significant differences were found. Therefore, bone level and post length did not seem to influence the fracture resistance of ETT.