A radiographic study of the relationship between technical quality of coronoradicular posts and periapical status in a Jordanian population.

A radiographic study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the technical quality of coronoradicular posts and periapical status. A total of 400 periapical radiographs, including 560 posts, of patients attending the Dental Department at Jordan University Hospital were scanned and studied. It was found that maxillary teeth were more frequently restored with posts (65.36%) than mandibular teeth (34.64%). Tapered posts accounted for 73.93% of the posts used. The ratio of the mean post length to crown length was 0.8, and that to root length was 0.45. The mean length of the remaining gutta percha apical to the end of the post was 6.22 mm. In addition, 25% of the posts deviated from the line of the root canal. Periapical radiolucency was evident in 53.93% of the assessed teeth. It is concluded that inadequate root canal treatment and coronoradicular posts are associated with increased prevalence of periapical radiolucency, and that general dental practitioners should be better trained in performing endodontic treatment and restoring endodontically treated teeth.