EVALUATION OF FRACTURE RESISTANCE OF ENDODONTICALLY TREATED TEETH USING DIFFERENT INTRA-ORIFICE BARRIER MATERIALS (AN IN VITRO STUDY)

Abstract

Background: Endodontically treated teeth (ETT) are potentially weaker than vital teeth against chewing forces and more prone to fracture. Aim: To evaluate and compare the effect of three intra-orifice barriers on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth. Material and methods: Fifty teeth divided into five groups according to the intraorifice barrier used: (n=10 each): Group I: Cention N, Group II: GC EverX Flow, Group III: GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label, Group IV: (positive control group ) no intra-orifice barrier was placed and Group V: Negative control group, root canal was instrumented and left empty without obturation. All subjects underwent fracture resistance test by universal testing machine. Difference in fracture resistance was analyzed using One Way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s HSD post hoc test with Bonferroni Correction. Results: The median fracture resistance values were 988.04 for Cention N, 1030.78 for EverX Flow, 1241.19 for GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label, 954.11 for positive control, and 835.26 for negative control. The Kruskal-Wallis H test yielded an H value of 9.365 with a p value of 0.053 indicating no statistically significant difference between the five groups. Conclusion: Cention N and GC EverX Flow increased fracture resistance to a certain extent, but showed lower value compared to GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label. Further studies are needed to support our findings.