The load capacity of maxillary central incisor with simulated flared root canal restored with different fiber-reinforced composite post and cementation protocols

Abstract

Background This study aimed to evaluate the load capacity of maxillary central incisors with simulated flared root canal restored with different fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) post cemented with either self-adhesive or self-etch resin cement and its mode of fracture. Methods Sixty-five extracted maxillary incisors were decoronated, its canal was artificially flared and randomly categorized into group tFRC (tapered FRC post) (n = 22), mFRC (multi-FRC post) (n = 21), and DIS-FRC (direct individually shaped-FRC (DIS-FRC) post) (n = 22), which were further subdivided based on cementation resin. The posts were cemented and a standardized resin core was constructed. After thermocycling, the samples were loaded statically and the maximum load was recorded. Results The load capacity of the maxillary central incisor was influenced by the different FRC post system and not the resin cement (p = 0.289), and no significant interaction was found between them. Group mFRC (522.9N) yielded a significantly higher load capacity compared to DIS-FRC (421.1N). Overall, a 55% favorable fracture pattern was observed, and this was not statistically significant. Conclusion Within the limitation of the study, it can be concluded that prefabricated FRC posts outperform DIS-FRC posts in terms of the load capacity of a maxillary central incisor with a simulated flared root canal. The cementation methods whether a self-adhesive or self-etch resin cement, was not demonstrated to influence the load capacity of a maxillary central incisor with a flared root canal. There were no significant differences between the favorable and non-favorable fracture when FRC post systems were used to restored a maxillary central incisor with a flared root canal.