Effect of root canal preparation, type of endodontic post and mechanical cycling on root fracture strength

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the type of root canal preparation, intraradicular post and mechanical cycling on the fracture strength of roots. MATERIAL AND METHODS eighty human single rooted teeth were divided into 8 groups according to the instruments used for root canal preparation (manual or rotary instruments), the type of intraradicular post (fiber posts- FRC and cast post and core- CPC) and the use of mechanical cycling (MC) as follows: Manual and FRC; Manual, FRC and MC; Manual and CPC; Manual, CPC and MC; Rotary and FRC; Rotary, FRC and MC; Rotary and CPC; Rotary, CPC and MC. The filling was performed by lateral compactation. All root canals were prepared for a post with a 10 mm length, using the custom #2 bur of the glass fiber post system. For mechanical cycling, the protocol was applied as follows: an angle of incidence of 45°, 37°C, 88 N, 4 Hz, 2 million pulses. All groups were submitted to fracture strength test in a 45° device with 1 mm/ min cross-head speed until failure occurred. RESULTS The 3-way ANOVA showed that the root canal preparation strategy (p<0.03) and post type (p<0.0001) affected the fracture strength results, while mechanical cycling (p=0.29) did not. CONCLUSION The root canal preparation strategy only influenced the root fracture strength when restoring with a fiber post and mechanical cycling, so it does not seem to be an important factor in this scenario.