Fracture strenght and ribbond fibers: In vitro analysis of mod restorations
F Zotti, Jun Hu, A. Zangani, Massimo Albanese, Corrado Paganelli
Abstract
Background: Ribbond fibers are supposed to be a reinforcing material in restoration of compromised teeth.This study aims to compare MOD restorations with and without Ribbond Fiber in terms of fracture strength under axial loading; to identify the minimum depth of MOD cavities to use Ribbond Fiber (to improve the fracture strength under axial load.Material and Methods: 20 upper and lower molars extracted intact were used for the experiment.The teeth were prepared with 2 types of cavities and then divided into 4 groups: 1) 5 mm deep MOD cavities with residual interaxial dentin restored without Ribbond; 2) 5 mm deep MOD cavities with residual interaxial dentin restored with Ribbond; 3) 5 mm deep MOD cavities without residual interaxial dentin, restored without Ribbond; 4) 5 mm deep MOD cavities without residual interaxial dentin restored with Ribbond.The restored teeth were then subjected to thermal cycling and their fracture strength was evaluated using an Instron device.The Mann-Whitney statistical test was used to compare fracture strength among groups.Finally, a descriptive analysis of the verified fractures was performed.Results: There was a statistically significant difference between groups 1 and 2 (P = 0.0090) in the loading force required for a fracture.In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference between groups 3 and 4 (P = 0.7540).Groups 1 and 2 had the fewest non-restorable fractures, in contrast to groups 3 and 4. Conclusions: Ribbond fiber application in MOD cavities seems to be more effective in terms of strengthening where cavities have interaxial dentinal tissue.