Are endodontically treated teeth more brittle?*
This study compared biomechanical properties (punch shear strength, toughness, hardness, and load to fracture) of 23 endodontically treated teeth (mean time since endodontic treatment: 10.1 yr) and their contralateral vital pairs. Analyses using paired t tests revealed no significant differences in punch shear strength, toughness, and load to fracture between the two groups. Vital dentin was 3.5% harder than dentin from contralateral endodontically treated teeth (p = 0.002). The similarity between the biomechanical properties of endodontically treated teeth and their contralateral vital pairs indicates that teeth do not become more brittle following endodontic treatment. Other factors may be more critical to failure of endodontically treated teeth.
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* This project was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and was based on a thesis submitted to the University of Melbourne in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MDSc degree.
PII: S0099-2399(06)80483-8
doi:10.1016/S0099-2399(06)80483-8
© 1992 The American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
