Controlled Clinical Trial on the Outcome of Glass Fiber Composite Cores Versus Wrought Posts and Cast Cores for the Restoration of Endodontically Treated Teeth: A 5-Year Follow-up Study

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the 5-year outcomes of glass fiber composite with cast posts and cores for the restoration of endodontically treated teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 143 patients in need of 203 full ceramic restorations on endodontically treated teeth were included. After primary stratification based on the need for post or no post, teeth were randomly allotted to test group 1 (prefabricated glass fiber posts), 2 (custom-made glass fiber posts), or 3 (composite cores without posts). The control group was treated with gold alloy-based wrought posts and cast cores. Success (original present) and survival (present after intervention) probability lifetime curves, corrected for clustering, were drawn over the entire data set. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 5.8 years (range: 0.5 to 7.2 years). At 5 years, the success and survival probabilities were 85.2% and 91.5%, respectively. Lifetime curves did not show any significant differences between the test and control groups for success (P = .85) or survival (P = .57). Moreover, no significant differences for success or survival could be found among the four groups (the three test groups and the control group). CONCLUSION: After 5 years of follow-up, cast gold and composite post-and-core systems on teeth with ceramic full restorations provided with a ferrule performed equally well.