Evaluation of Retention of two Different Cast Post-Core Systems and Fracture Resistance of the Restored Teeth

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: The survival of pulpless teeth restored with different post and core systems is still a controversial issue. PURPOSE: This study compared the retention of two different post and core systems and also the fracture resistance of teeth restored with these systems. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Eighty endodontically treated maxillary central incisors were sectioned perpendicular to the long axis at a point 2mm incisal to the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) and then the root canals were obturated. The restored teeth were randomly divided into two equal groups of 40. One group was restored with Nickel-Chromium (Ni-Cr) post and core system and the other group with Non-Precious Gold alloy (NPG) system. For evaluation of fracture resistance of the restored teeth, the specimens (n=20 per each group) were mounted in acrylic resin blocks and a layer of polyvinyl siloxane was applied to cover the roots. Loads were applied at an angle of 45 degrees to the long axis of the teeth and measured with a universal testing machine. The axial retention values of the studied groups (no=20) were measured on an Instron testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 19.00 and student’s t-test (α=0.05). RESULTS: Although retention failure load for Ni-Cr system was lower than NPG system, there was no significant difference between the two systems (p= 0.7). However, fracture resistance of the teeth restored with Ni-Cr post and core system was significantly higher than NPG group (p= 0.000). CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference between the retention of the studied post and core systems. Although significantly higher fracture thresholds were recorded for Ni-Cr post and core group, the failure loads of both systems may rarely occur clinically.