CLINICAL SUCCESS OF CAST METAL POSTS AND CORES

The topic of posts for endodontically treated teeth has received consi derable attention in the literature, but there is sparse in vivo resea rch and certain information from in vitro investigations is contradict ory. A retrospective study of 1273 endodontically treated teeth in the practices of nine dentists in general practice indicated an inordinat ely high failure rate with cast posts and cores compared with alternat e systems of coronoradicular stabilization. However, a closer evaluati on of the data in this study indicated that almost half of the cast po sts were half the desired length or less. The indications for the cast post and core are discussed and the specific causes of failure are re viewed. Additional research is needed to compare the success rate of s ecurely seated cast posts and cores with alternate methods of coronora dicular stabilization.