Clinical evaluation of anterior endodontically treated teeth restored with CAD/CAM custom made zirconia posts and cores(A short term clinical study)

Abstract

Background and Aim of study: CAD/CAM technology is one of the most used methods to fabricate dental prosthesis, this technology made it possible to have custom made esthetic zirconia posts and cores. However, these posts need more studies to justify their use clinically so our study aimed to evaluate the clinical performance of CAD/CAM custom made zirconia posts and cores by comparing it to fiber posts performance in terms of loss of retention, posts fracture and roots fracture.

Materials and Methods: Thirty (n=30) upper anterior symmetrical endodontically treated teeth in ten patients in need of post and core restorations were allocated into two equal groups using split mouth technique, teeth in the first group were restored using CAD\CAM custom made zirconia posts and cores and teeth in the second group were restored using fiber posts with composite cores, all teeth were then restored using full ceramic crowns (IPS Emax).

Cases were followed up on fixed intervals (month, 6 months, year and year and a half) and evaluated clinically and radiographically and failure incidents were reported, data were then statistically analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: No statistically differences were observed between groups (P>0.05), All teeth and posts remained healthy, only one case of simple ceramic chipping was recorded in the crown of lateral incisor in fiber posts group (3.3% of total specimen).

Conclusions: According to this study, it was concluded that CAD/CAM custom made zirconia posts and cores provide an esthetic suitable choice for restoring anterior endodontically treated teeth.