An Evaluation of Fracture Strength of Zirconium Oxide Posts Fabricated Using CAD-CAM Technology Compared with Prefabricated Glass Fibre Posts

Post and core therapy is regarded as the treatment of choice for restoring severely damaged endodontically treated teeth. Critical control of endodontic materials in the coronal third of the canal and pulp chamber is essential in order to maintain its colour and translucency. In addition to this, the duplication of the optical characteristics of an intact tooth, including shade translucency and fluorescence is often made difficult by the use of metal infrastructures. As a result of this tooth colored posts have gained popularity especially in aesthetic areas. Besides aesthetics, the post is also responsible for transmitting the occlusal forces to the remaining tooth structure making the mechanical properties of the post critical. However, there is no clear consensus regarding an ideal system as far as strength of the post is concerned. Hence this study aims to analyses and compares the fracture strength of traditional prefabricated glass fibre posts with zirconium oxide posts constructed using CAD CAM technology.