Survival of glass fibre reinforced composite post restorations after 2 years?an observational clinical study

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to provide prospective clinical data for the survival of postendodontic reconstructions of teeth with varying degrees of hard tissue loss using tapered or parallel-sided post shapes. METHODS: Eighty-three patients got 105 glass fibre reinforced posts of tapered (Luscent Anchors, Dentatus, Sweden) and parallel-sided, serrated (FibreKor, Jeneric Pentron, USA) post shape. A dual curing hybrid composite Compolute (3M ESPE, Germany) was used as luting material, EBS-Multi (3M ESPE) as adhesive system and Clearfil Core (Kuraray, Japan) for core built-up. The restorations were followed for a minimum of 24 months. The statistical analysis was performed on a random sub-sample of one restoration per subject. The Fisher exact test was used to compare frequencies of failures after 12 and 24 month. A Kaplan-Meier-analysis was used to analyse time-to-failure in both groups. Differences of survival time between post types were tested with the log-rank test. RESULTS: 3.8% of the restorations failed after 12 month, 12.8% after 24 month, respectively. The main failure type observed was post fractures. All but one failed teeth could be restored. There was no difference in failure frequency between post types after 12 or 24 months. The log-rank test showed no differences in survival between the two types of post (p=0.37). CONCLUSION: Parallel-sided and tapered glass fibre posts result after 2 years of clinical service in an equal rate of survival.