Survival of Endodontically Treated Teeth with Direct and Indirect Posts: A 5-Year Retrospective Evaluation at an Australian University Dental Clinic

Restoring endodontically treated teeth has always been a challenge in dentistry. Dental posts are used when further retention is required for the final restoration, indicating that the tooth is already structurally compromised. Varying survival rates have been reported by previous studies, and there does not seem to be consensus on what factors are favorable regarding the survival of teeth treated with dental posts. Background/Objectives: This study investigated the survival of teeth treated with direct and indirect posts placed by dentists and dental students at an Australian university over a five-year period. Methods: This retrospective study included 684 direct and indirect posts placed from January 2018 to December 2022 at Griffith University dental clinic. The survival of the teeth treated with dental posts was assessed using Kaplan–Meier analysis. The potential effect of patient, tooth and operator factors was assessed using Cox regression analysis. Results: The posts had a five-year survival rate of 94% and survival time of 46.16 months. No statistically significant difference in survival was noted between the different groups in this study. Conclusions: Teeth treated with dental posts have been shown to have good short-term survival; however, long-term survival could not be commented on. Within the limitations of this study, survival was not associated with the location of the tooth, type of tooth, operator expertise, post material, cement, restoration or opposing dentition.