Long-term survival of endodontically treated, maxillary anterior teeth restored with either tapered or parallel-sided glass-fiber posts and full-ceramic crown coverage.
OBJECTIVE
This retrospective study investigated the clinical effectiveness over up to 8 years of parallel-sided and of tapered glass-fiber posts, in combination with either hybrid composite or dual-cure composite resin core material, in endodontically treated, maxillary anterior teeth covered with full-ceramic crowns.


METHODS
The study population comprised 192 patients and 526 endodontically treated teeth, with various degrees of hard-tissue loss, restored by the post-and-core technique. Four groups were defined based on post shape and core build-up materials, and within each group post-and-core restorations were assigned randomly with respect to root morphology. Inclusion criteria were symptom-free endodontic therapy, root-canal treatment with a minimum apical seal of 4mm, application of rubber dam, need for post-and-core complex because of coronal tooth loss, and tooth with at least one residual coronal wall. Survival rate of the post-and-core restorations was determined using Kaplan-Meier statistical analysis.


RESULTS
The restorations were examined clinically and radiologically; mean observation period was 5.3 years. The overall survival rate of glass-fiber post-and-core restorations was 98.5%. The survival rate for parallel-sided posts was 98.6% and for tapered posts was 96.8%. Survival rates for core build-up materials were 100% for dual-cure composite and 96.8% for hybrid light-cure composite.


CONCLUSIONS
For both glass-fiber post designs and for both core build-up materials, clinical performance was satisfactory. Survival was higher for teeth retaining four and three coronal walls.
Signore
Antonio
A
Department of Biophysics, Medicine and Dentistry, University of Genoa, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy. dr.signore@tiscali.it
Benedicenti
Stefano
S
Kaitsas
Vassilios
V
Barone
Michele
M
Angiero
Francesca
F
Ravera
Giambattista
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003188:Composite Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D003442:Crowns; D003481:Cuspid; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D003776:Dental Porcelain / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla; D008875:Middle Aged; D011176:Post and Core Technique / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000379:methods; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019231:Tooth Preparation, Prosthodontic / Q000379:methods; D019553:Tooth, Nonvital / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D003188:Composite Resins; D003764:Dental Materials; C113550:FiberKor, sculpture; C009753:fiberglass; D003776:Dental Porcelain