An in vitro study to compare the fracture strength and mode of fracture of endodontically treated maxillary central incisors fractured at cemento-enamel junction and restored with three different post and core systems

Endodontically treated teeth with loss of tooth structure from cemento-enamel junction require post and core restoration for their long-term survival. Thus, an in vitro study was conducted, in which 30 extracted human maxillary central incisors, cut from cemento-enamel junction, were divided into 3 groups of 10 teeth each and restored with fiber-reinforced composite post-core, Ti-alloy post with fiber-reinforced composite core, and Ni-Cr cast post-core following endodontic treatment. Ni-Cr cast post-core group showed highest maximum force tolerated and fracture strength followed by fiber-reinforced composite post-core group and Ti-alloy post with fiber-reinforced composite group. Maximum incident of root fracture was found in Ni-Cr post-core group, followed by Ti-alloy with fiber-reinforced composite core group, thus rendering the teeth non-treatable.