ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of a prefabricated tribochemical coating of FRC (fiber-reinforced composite) posts with and without aging on the pull-out forces compared to posts without conditioning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Post space preparations were performed on 108 extracted anterior teeth. Thirty-six uncoated FRC posts (DentinPost) and 72 prefabricated tribochemically coated FRC posts (DentinPost Coated) were used at a length of 12 mm. Thirty-six of the coated posts were thermally aged. FRC posts (n = 9) were placed using DentinBuild or MultiCore Flow foundation composite resins or Panavia F2.0 or RelyX Unicem resin cements. Following water storage (37°, 24 h) and thermocycling (5000 cycles, 5° to 55°C, 30 s), pull-out force testing was performed. Fracture modes were assessed using a light microscope. Data were analyzed statistically (1-way and 3-way ANOVA, Bonferroni-Dunn correction, α = 0.05). RESULTS: Significantly higher pull-out forces of posts luted with Panavia F2.0 were observed for the coated and coated/aged FRC posts compared to the unconditioned posts (control group, p < 0.001). The pull-out forces of tribochemically coated FRC posts luted with MultiCore Flow were significantly lower than of coated posts luted with Panavia F2.0 (p < 0.001). Coated/aged FRC posts exhibited similar pull-out forces for the tested luting composite resins (p > 0.05). Except for DentinBuild (coated posts), more mixed or cohesive fractures were assessed for coated and coated/aged FRC posts than for unconditioned FRC posts. CONCLUSION: Prefabricated tribochemical coating of FRC posts provided a stable interface between coating and post and remained stable over time.
