Survival of Endodontically Treated Maxillary Anterior Teeth with Aesthetic Post-Restoration: A Prospective Intervention Study

Abstract

Introduction: There is much debate over the best choice of restorative material and the placement method for the most successful treatment. Many teeth that have undergone endodontic treatment may not have enough structure to support a restoration or crown. To improve retention for the restorative material, ferrule may be used. Adhesive techniques have transformed the way we restore teeth after root canal treatment, starting with the shift from using cast post-and-core to using fibre post. The use of fibre-reinforced posts has been found to prevent irreparable root fractures thereby improving the longevity of the treatment. Aim: To compare two different types of aesthetic fibre posts for 12 months. Materials and Methods: A prospective interventional study was carried out in the Department of Prosthodontics, Manav Rachna Dental College (Faridabad) for a period of 12 months from Nov 2022- Oct 2023. Forty participants with single rooted, endodontically treated, maxillary anterior teeth in the age bracket of 15-55 years, both males and females of the north Indian population were included in the study. Teeth were selected where a post-retained crown was indicated and post space was prepared using a piezo reamer drill at 5000 rpm. At least 4 mm of obturation is left in the canal to maintain the apical seal. Furthermore, Zircon-enriched silicon fibre and glass fibre-reinforced posts were cemented into the prepared post space. Metal-ceramic crowns were cemented and baseline periapical radiographs were obtained. At the interval of one month, three months, six months and one year, the patients were evaluated.The Fischer’s exact test was utilised to establish the association between categorical variables and the level of significance (p-value <0.05). Results: One year follow-up revealed no failures in crown movement when evaluated under finger pressure, recurrent caries, or root fractures. One case of glass fibre-reinforced post showed a fracture of the post and another case of glass fibre post showed periapical radiolucency at 6-month intervals on clinical and radiographical examination which was significant when compared to Zircon-enriched silicon fibre post group (p-value=0.02). Conclusion: Both aesthetic fibre-reinforced post systems used in single-rooted upper anterior teeth demonstrated similar success rates in restoring root canal treated teeth.

Keywords

• dental crown
• post and core technique
• survival analysis