Surface treatments for improving bond strength to prefabricated fiber posts: a literature review.

This literature review summarizes the research on fiber post surface treatments and provides information related to their benefit in enhancing bond strength to composites, based on the results of original scientific full papers from peer-reviewed journals listed in Pub Med. The search was conducted using the terms "fiber post," "surface treatment," "surface conditioning," "etching" and "sandblasting." A consistent number of in vitro studies that investigated the surface treatment of fiber posts in an attempt to improve bond strength have been published to date. Their results have been summarized in the following categories: chemical treatments and micromechanical treatments of fiber post surfaces (or a combination of both principles). The majority of available literature data is based on studies that investigated different "chairside" post superficial treatments. According to the in vitro results, surface conditioning improves fiber post bonding properties, and the bond strength of pre-treated fiber posts to restorative materials is satisfactory. Long-term clinical studies are needed prior to making a general recommendation for their use.