Fracture resistance of root filled molar teeth restored with glass fibre bundles.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of unidirectional or woven glass fibre tapes inserted into MOD cavity preparations on the fracture resistance of root filled molar teeth.

METHODOLOGY: Extracted human molar teeth were randomly divided into six groups (n = 15) : G1 - sound teeth, control; G2 - MOD cavity preparation; G3 - MOD + root canal treatment (Endo); G4 - MOD + Endo + composite resin restoration (Resin); G5 - MOD + Endo + unidirectional fibre (UF) + Resin; G6 - MOD + ;Endo + woven fibre (WF) + Resin. The teeth were subjected to a compressive fracture test in a universal testing machine. After testing, two failure modes were classified: pulp chamber floor or cusp.

RESULTS: The highest and the lowest mean fracture strengths were found in sound teeth (G1) (4960N) and MOD + root canal treatment (G3) (612.84N), respectively, with significant differences from the other groups (P < 0.05). The remaining groups had statistically similar means. In G5 and G6, there was a tendency for fracture to occur in the pulp chamber floor compromising tooth integrity.

CONCLUSIONS: The insertion of glass fibres into MOD cavity preparations and restoring them with composite resin was not different than molar teeth filled with composite resin only in terms of fracture resistance. Fibres placed into MOD cavities do not reinforce teeth.