Carbon fiber post adhesion to resin luting cement in the restoration of endodontically treated teeth

Carbon fiber posts (CFP) are widely used in the restoration of endodontical ly treated teeth to enhance the mechanical behavior in spite of metallic po sts and to prevent vertical fractures of the tooth under chewing loads. The post is cemented inside the canal lumen using polymer resins with Young's modulus lower than dentine. In this conditions the stress concentration is located at the post-cement interface and in the cement bulk itself, preserv ing radicular dentine from dangerous stress accumulation. The mechanical re sistance of CFP posts cemented in human dentine was evaluated by the means of mechanical pull-out tests assisted by the finite element analysis. The a verage bond strength and the critical stress values of the CHP-cement inter face were 25 MPa and 50 MPa respectively. (C) 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishe rs.