Efficacy of Reverse Metal vs Glass Fiber and Polyethylene Fiber Posts in Esthetic Rehabilitation of Severely Decayed Primary Anterior Teeth: A Randomized-controlled Clinical Trial

Purpose:The goal of restoring severely mutilated primary anterior teeth is to restore the lost tooth structure to maintain function and prevent psychological problems that will affect a child's self-esteem.The present study aimed to compare clinical retentiveness and marginal integrity of the reverse metal, glass fiber, and polyethylene fiber posts (PFP) in esthetic rehabilitation of severely decayed primary anterior teeth.Materials and methods: A total of 60 grossly decayed maxillary primary anterior teeth meeting inclusion criteria were selected and equally divided into three groups based on the type of post used; group I: reverse metal, group II: glass fiber, and group III: polyethylene fiber.The restorations were assessed at every 3-month interval until 24 months clinically for retention of post and intact marginal integrity and radiographically for post/root fracture.The obtained data were analyzed statistically using Cochran's Q test for intragroup and Chi-squared test for intergroup comparisons using SPSS software version 20. p 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The loss was statistically significant at the 3rd-month review in groups II and III, during the 6th and 9th month reviews (p-value 0.019), and at the 18th, 21st, and 24th month reviews (p-value 0.045).At different time intervals the difference in retention rates was statistically insignificant in group I and significant in groups II and III.Clinically, no marginal adaptation failures and, radiographically, no root/post fractures were observed. Conclusion:As reverse metal and glass fiber posts (GFP) were found to be retentive, both can be recommended for restoring severely decayed primary anterior teeth that require long-term survival.