Comparative evaluation of fracture resistance of various core buildup materials on endodontically treated teeth: An in vitro study

Aim: The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the fracture resistance of four different core build-up materials on endodontically treated teeth. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro study, sample size estimation was done using GFNx01power software (version 3.1.9.2), an effect size of 0.66 was obtained at 95% confidence interval. 48 Teeth samples were decoronated 2 mm above the Cementoenamel junction. Root canal treatment done, followed by preparation of post space and fiberglass posts of 10 mm length was cemented with resin cement into the root canal and 4 mm above the prepared tooth. All the samples were randomly divided into 4 groups of 12 samples for four different core build up materials. All teeth were restored with a Nickel chromium crown of standard dimensions and cemented with glass ionomer cement. Fracture resistance measured by applying the load at an angle of 135° to the long axis of the tooth at a crosshead speed of 0.05 mm/min until failure. Analysis was performed using KRUSKAL-WALLIS to compare mean values and standard deviation of fracture resistance, followed by post – hoc MANN WHITNEY test for assessing the significant difference of fracture resistance between the four groups. Results: Resistance to fracture was greater in Luxacore Z group followed by Vitremer, Denfil and Filtek. However, no statistically significant differences in the fracture resistance were observed among the groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that Luxacore Z core build-up material exhibits superior fracture resistance. Resin modified glass ionomer cement had fracture resistance comparable to Luxacore.