EVALUATION OF FRACTURE RESISTANCE IN ENDODONTICALLY TREATED TEETH FOLLOWING PLACEMENT OF DIFFERENT INTRA-ORIFICE BARRIER MATERIALS (AN IN VITRO STUDY)

Background: Endodontically treated teeth (ETT) are potentially weaker than vital teeth against chewing forces and more prone to fracture.Aim: To evaluate and compare the effect of three intra-orifice barriers on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth.Material and methods: Fifty teeth divided into five groups according to the intraorifice barrier used: (n=10 each): Group I: Cention N, Group II: GC EverX Flow, Group III: GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label, Group IV: (positive control group) no intra-orifice barrier was placed and Group V: Negative control group, root canal was instrumented and left empty without obturation. All subjects underwent fracture resistance test by universal testing machine.Results: The median fracture resistance values were 988.04 for Cention N, 938.35 for EverX Flow, 1241.19 for GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label, 954.11 for positive control, and 835.26 for negative control. The range of fracture resistance values (minimum to maximum) for each group was as follows: Cention N (678.53 – 1227.96), EverX Flow (312.55 – 1406.96), GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label (654.88 – 1440.34), Positive Control (756.04 – 1490.64), and Negative Control (769.04 – 1004.61). The Kruskal-Wallis H test yielded an H value of 9.365 with a p value of 0.053 indicating no statistically significant difference between the five groups.Conclusion: Centon N and GC EverX Flow increased fracture resistance to a certain extent, but showed lower value compared to GC Fuji LC 2 Gold Label. Further studies are needed to support our findings.