title: A survey of failed post-retained restorations.
abstract: Survival of endodontically treated, post-restored teeth depends on a multitude of factors, all of which are practically impossible to include in a randomized, controlled clinical study. The purpose of this survey was to characterize and analyze reported failures of post-retained restorations to identify factors critical to failure and to type of failure. A questionnaire was mailed to private practitioners in Denmark with a request to complete the questionnaire whenever a patient presented with a failed post-retained restoration. Information was gathered on factors related to the patient, the tooth, the restorative materials, and the techniques. Two-hundred and sixty questionnaires were collected from 171 practitioners over a 3-year period. Functioning time until failure varied between 3 months and 38 years. Mean survival time until failure was 11 years. Of the failed restorations, 61% had functioned for 10 years or less. Fracture of the tooth was the most common type of failure reported, followed by loosening of the post and fracture of the post. Tapered posts implied an increased risk of tooth fracture compared to loosening or fracture of the post, and the relative risk of tooth fracture increased with the functioning time until failure. Fracture of the post was more common among male than female patients. On the basis of this survey of failed post-retained restorations, it was concluded that tapered posts were associated with a higher risk of tooth fracture than were parallel-sided posts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Materials, School of Dentistry, University of Copenhagen, Nörre Allé 20, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark. apz@odont.ku.dk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peutzfeldt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahafi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asmussen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003188:Composite Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D003718:Denmark; D003722:Dental Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000737:chemistry; D003738:Dental Cements / Q000737:chemistry; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011176:Post and Core Technique / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013499:Surface Properties; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000145:classification; D019553:Tooth, Nonvital / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D003188:Composite Resins; D003722:Dental Alloys; D003738:Dental Cements; D003723:Dental Amalgam