In vitro evaluation of a carbon fiber post.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of endodontic and restorative procedures on fracture resistance of teeth, and to compare the incidence of root fracture in teeth with clinical crowns removed that were restored with three different types of post and a composite core build-up. Seven groups of 10 extracted maxillary canines were used. A control group had only a crown preparation, but no endodontic treatment. Three groups had endodontic treatment, crown preparation, and the access restored. Three groups had endodontic treatment, the crown totally removed, a tapered, parallel, or carbon post placed, and a composite build-up. All specimens were subjected to a 45-degree load at 0.5 mm/min until failure occurred. The force at failure and the location of fracture were recorded. The groups with post and composite build-ups failed at significantly lower force than the teeth in which the crowns had not been removed. There were no significant differences in the amount of force required to produce failure among the three groups with different posts and a composite build-up. The group restored with the carbon post had no root fractures, whereas there were five fractures in each of the parallel and tapered post groups.