Clinical and radiographical evaluation of intraradicular posts

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiographic success of teeth restored with posts. Material and method. Periapical radiographs of 101 teeth with posts taken from 75 patients were examined. Posts were evaluated in terms of their position, remaining amount of gutta-percha, lengths and diameters, quality of root filling and periapical health. Furthermore, clinical examinations were performed regarding the overlying restorations. Statistical analysis was made to determine the influence of various factors on failure such as root fractures, marginal gap formation, post displacement, root perforation and the presence of a periapical lesion. Results. 40.6% of the examined teeth exhibited some kind of failure with an almost equal distribution between custom-cast and prefabricated posts respectively. Parameters such as post type, age of posts, centralization of the post, amount of root filling and the post/root length ratio, post diameters, the lengths of endodontic filling and the type of overlying restorations were not found to exert a significant influence on the failure of post systems (p>0.05). On the other hand, a statistically significant relationship was determined between the marginal integrity of the overlying restorations and periapical lesions. Conclusion. The results of this study suggest that the marginal integrity of the overlying restorations was determined as a significant influencing factor in the overall success of post systems in endodontically treated teeth. Long-term comparative follow-up studies are needed to make more reliable judgments.