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Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122
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Effect of different surface treatments of luted fiber posts on push out

bond strength to root dentin
S.E. Sultan*, A.M. Korsiel, M.S. Kamel, W.M. Etman
Conservative Dentistry Dep., Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University, Egypt

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the influence of different post surface treatments on the micro push out
bond strength of a luting agent to a fiber post.
Materials and methods: Sixty freshly extracted single rooted upper central incisor teeth were selected, cut perpendicular to the
long axis at the labial cemento-enamel junction. All root canals were instrumented, obturated, the post spaces were prepared to a
depth of 11 mm. The specimens were classified into five groups according to the surface treatment performed to the post. Group 1:-
no surface treatments (control group), Group 2:-surface treatment with chloroform, Group 3:-surface treatment as in group 2 in
addition to the application of silane coupling agent (Calibra), Group 4:-surface treatment by sandblasting using 50 mm alumina
particles, Group 5:-surface treatment as in group 4 in addition to the application of silane coupling agent (Calibra), A dual-
polymerizing resin luting agent (Calibra) was used for cementation of posts. Three segments (1 mm each) from the cervical 1/3
of each root were obtained. Micro push out test was performed on a universal testing machine at a cross-head speed of 1.0 mm/min
until bond failure occurred. Data were analyzed with 1-way ANOVA.
Results: Micro push out bond strength of the luting agent to the post was significantly affected by surface treatment (P < 0.05).
Treating the surface of the post with airborne-particle abrasion followed by silanization resulted in the highest bond strength
compared with other treatments. There was no significant difference in bond strength between the chloroform group before and
after silanization.
Conclusions: Airborne-particle abrasion in addition to silanization provided the highest increase in bond strength between the fiber
post and the resin luting agent evaluated.
Ó 2014, Production and Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: Fiber posts; Surface treatments; Sandblasting; Silane; Chloroform; Micro push out bond strength

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: dr_sherif82@yahoo.com (S.E. Sultan). Endodontically treated teeth may be damaged by
Peer review under the responsibility of the Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta decay, excessive wear, or previous restorations, resulting
University in a lack of coronal tooth structure.
The restoration of these teeth may require the
placement of a post to ensure adequate retention of a
Production and hosting by Elsevier
core foundation [1e3]. Cast metal posts and cores have
been traditionally used in these situations to provide

1687-8574 Ó 2014, Production and Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tdj.2013.11.003
 S.E. Sultan et al. / Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122
the necessary retention for the subsequent prostho-
dontic restoration [3]. Many dentists prefer to use
prefabricated post systems because they are more
practical, less expensive, and, in some situations, less
invasive than cast metal post and core system [4].
Recently, the use of esthetic (tooth colored) posts
such as fiber and zirconia posts in the restoration of
endodontically treated teeth has increased in popularity
[5,6]. Fiber posts are currently perceived as promising
alternatives to cast metal posts, as their elastic moduli
are similar to that of dentin, producing a favorable stress
distribution [5]. These posts, also, increase the light
transmission within the root and overlying gingival tis-
sues, thereby, eliminating or reducing the dark appear-
ance often associated with non-vital teeth and metal
posts and cores [7].
A choice must be made between different types of
fiber posts based on their light-transmitting capacities,
non-translucent posts block light passage, therefore,
light-polymerizing luting materials must be substituted
with auto polymerizing resin composites, and these
materials are typically fluid and have a long polymer-
ization time [8].
Selecting an appropriate adhesive and luting procedure
for bonding posts to root dentin is another challenge.
Sealing is expected to be strong due to recent improve-
ments in the sealing ability of adhesive resin luting agents
[8]. Moreover, various types of bonding systems can be
used in combination with different luting resin [8,9]. In a
recent investigation, carbon fiber post and core founda-
tions cemented with dentin bonding and resin luting
agents showed less microleakage than those luted with
glass-ionomer and zincephosphate cements [10]. Resin
luting agents may be polymerized through a chemical
reaction, a light-polymerization process, or a combination
of both mechanisms [11]. Most current resin luting agents
polymerize using a dual-polymerizing process that re-
quires light exposure to initiate the reaction [11,12].
Failure of fiber post-and-core restorations often
occurs because of de bonding between the resin luting
agent (-fiber post and/or -root canal dentin) as a result
of inadequate bond strength [1,5,13,14].
One difficulty with some of the available pre-
fabricated fiber posts is that the polymer matrix be-
tween the post material fibers is highly cross-linked
and, therefore, less reactive. This makes it difficult for
these posts to bond to resin luting agents and tooth
structure [2,15].
Although the adhesion in the root canal represents the
weakest point of the post-endodontic restoration, the post/
composite adhesion needs to be considered. Bonding of
fiber posts to composite materials relies only on the
117
chemical interaction between the post surface and the
resin material used for luting or building-up the core. In an
attempt to maximize resin bonding to fiber posts several
surface treatments have been recently suggested [16].
2. Materials & methods
Sixty freshly extracted human periodontally
involved, single straight rooted upper central incisor
teeth with single canal were selected. To standardize the
root canal length for this study, the roots were cut (from
the coronal end) to a uniform length of 16 mm. The root
canals were instrumented to a working length of 1 mm
from the apex up to #55 Master apical file. All root canals
were instrumented by the same operator using a step-
back technique with stainless steel K-files. The canals
were obturated with gutta-percha cones (Dentsply-
Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) and sealer (AH-26,
Dentsply DeTrey GmbH, Konstanz, Germany) using
lateral condensation technique. After complete end-
odontic treatment, the cervical root canal openings were
filled with an eugenol free provisional restorative ma-
terial (Orafil G, Prevest Denpro Limited, India). The
roots were then fixed in standardized self-cured cylin-
drical acrylic blocks to facilitate handling of specimens.
The temporary restorations were removed and the cav-
ities were cleaned. The post spaces were prepared to a
depth of 11 mm with special preparation drills supplied
from the manufacturer of the Easy Post systems
(Dentsply-Maillefer, Switzerland) using a low speed
straight hand piece attached to bench drilling machine.
Number 3 Easy Posts with 1.6 mm diameter at the
coronal end and 20 mm length were used. The speci-
mens were randomly classified into five equal groups
(n ¼ 12) according to the type of treatment performed
to the post surface:-
- Group I:-No post surface treatments, considered
as a control group.
- Group II:-Post surface treatment with chloroform,
the post was immersed in the solvent (chloroform)
for 1 h and then wiped with a chloroform
impregnated tissue for 1 min.
- Group III:-Post surface treatment as in group II in
addition to the application of silane coupling agent
using a brush then left undisturbed for 1 min and
gently air-dried.
- Group IV:-Post surface treatment by extra oral
sandblasting device using 50 mm alumina particles at
2 Mpa air pressure for 10 s with the posts held
perpendicular to the incoming particle stream at
20 mm distance. The sandblasted post is then cleaned
118 S.E. Sultan et al. / Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122

5 min in an ultrasound bath to remove any loose

particles, cleaned with alcohol and air dried [17].
- Group V:-Post surface treatment as in group IV in
addition to the application of silane coupling agent
using a brush then left undisturbed for 1 min and
gently air-dried. After surface treatment of posts,
one specimen from each group was examined by
scanning electron microscope (JEOLeJSM
5200eLV) to show the effect of surface treatments
on the topography of tested posts. A dual-
polymerizing resin luting agent (Calibra esthetic
resin cement, Dentsply-Maillefer, Switzerland) was
used for cementation of posts according manufac-
turer instructions. Three segments from the cervical
1/3 of each root were obtained by sectioning the
root under water coolant using an isomet saw, the Fig. 2. Upper part.
sections were 1 mm in thickness, the coronal surface
of each section was marked with an indelible a 2 mm diameter which is slightly larger than the post
marker, and the thickness of each specimen was space diameter.
measured by using a caliper. For performing micro The load was applied in an apical-coronal direction
push out test a specially designed attachment was on the apical aspect of the root slice. The load pushed
fabricated and it consists of 3 parts, upper part (Figs. the post toward the larger part of the root slice to avoid
1 and 2). any limitation to the post movement owing to the post
space taper. Loading was performed on a universal
Which is carrying 1.3 mm diameter cylindrical testing machine at a cross-head speed of 1.0 mm/min
plunger that pushes the post segment, the plunger tip until bond failure occurred. Failure was manifested as a
was sized and positioned to touch only the post, without complete extrusion of the post segment. The force (N)
stressing the surrounding post space walls, lower part required to debond the post from the dentin disc was
(Fig. 3). In which there is a large cavity that receives the recorded for all posts. To express the bond strength in
pushed post fragment, and a movable part (Fig. 4). MPa, the load (Newton) at failure point was divided by
That can be placed above or removed from the large the area of the bonded interface, which was calculated
cavity of the lower part, the upper end of this movable with the following formula:
part have a small cavity in which the root section is A ¼ 2prh
placed, at the bottom of this cavity there is a hole with
where p is the constant 3.14, r is the post radius, and h is
the thickness of the slice in mm.

Fig. 1. Specially designed attachment. Fig. 3. Lower part.

 S.E. Sultan et al. / Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122
Fig. 4. Movable part.
All data was collected and tabulated to be statisti-
cally analyzed using one way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) test.
3. Results
Tables 1 and 2
3.1. Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
observations
The following figures represent the topography of
the posts after each surface treatment (Figs. 5e9).
4. Discussion
In this study the lowest bond strength values were
obtained in the control group (group I) because the post
surfaces were not altered by any treatment. Thus, the
lower bond strength values may be attributed to poor
mechanical interlocking between the smooth surface of
the post and the resin cement. The high crosslink density
in the epoxy polymer matrix of the Easy post makes it
difficult to bond the post to composite resin luting ce-
ments. Monomers of the Calibra resin luting cement
cannot penetrate into the crosslinked polymer matrix
[18]. Therefore, an actual chemical bond between the
composite resin and post surface may not be feasible.
Table 1
The push out bond strength mean values (Mpa) of the tested groups.
Gp I Gp II
ms 23.4  0.39 28.8  0.66
a
Highly significant at 0.05 level.
119
Chloroform is a strong organic solvent, which was
chosen as a chemical surface treatment for fiber posts
in the current study. The chloroform action increased
adherence values almost 20%, and the silane had then
little further positive effect on these values where
group II recorded a mean value of 28.8 Mpa versus
group III with a mean value of 29.4 Mpa.
These results agreed with Cheleux et al., 2007 [17]
who studied the effect of different surface treatments
on the push out bond strength of fiber posts. One of
these treatments was the chloroform which increased
the bond strength by 20%, which was explained by the
cleaning action of the chloroform to the posts surfaces
from all surface debris creating a well-defined surface
pattern with apparent fibers making them more avail-
able for micro retention by bonding agent penetration.
They also used silane after chloroform and found that it
had a little positive effect than chloroform alone.
In addition the results of the current study demon-
strated that airborne-particle abrasion treatment of post
surfaces (group IV) produced higher post retention than
non-treated posts (control). These findings agreed with
those obtained by Soares et al., 2008 [19] who studied
SEM images of post surfaces after airborne-particle
abrasion and observed roughness on their superficial
structures. The authors attributed the roughness to frac-
tured glass fibers and partial removal of the epoxy matrix.
In the present study, the highest bond strength was
obtained in group V where the posts were sandblasted
and then silanated, the overall bond strength was
improved by 50% compared to the control group. This
might be explained as sandblasting leads to roughening
of post surface by removing the resin matrix between
the silicon fibers making it more retentive in addition
to the chemical reaction of silanes which relies on the
formation of SieOeSi siloxane bonds and conversion
of the mineral surface into a less polar surface
compatible with organic bonding agent [5,6]. These
findings were matching with those obtained by Perdi-
gao et al. (2004) [20], which concluded that the silica
fiber surfaces need to be freshly exposed preferably by
physical abrasion (sandblasting) in order to benefit
from silane coupling effects.
Concerning the current effect of silanation it was
found that it effectively increased the micro push out
Gp III GpIV Gp V F (p)
29.4  0.42 28.6  0.48 34.6  0.47 1337 (0.00)a
120 S.E. Sultan et al. / Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122

Table 2
Pairwise test performed for the tested groups.
Gp II Gp III Gp IV Gp V
Gp I 37.333 (26.376)a 55.952 (26.376)a 32.714 (26.376)a 84.00 (26.376)a
Gp II 18.619 (26.376) 4.619 (26.376) 46.66 (26.376)a
Gp III 23.238 (26.376) 28.05 (26.376)a
Gp IV 51.28 (26.376)a
a
Significantly different groups at a level of significance ¼ 0.05.

Fig. 7. SEM micrograph 500 of surface treatment with chloroform þ

saline (group 3) showing some fibers interrputed.

Fig. 5. SEM micrograph 500 of untreated post surfaces (group 1)

showing solid void free surface and evenly distributed parallel oriented
fibers.

Fig. 8. SEM micrograph 500 of surface treatment with sand-

Fig. 6. SEM micrograph 500 of surface treatment with chloroform blasting (group 4) showing a rough surface creating more spaces for
(group 2) showing expansion of the polymer network. micromechanical retention.
 S.E. Sultan et al. / Tanta Dental Journal 10 (2013) 116e122
Fig. 9. SEM micrographs with of group 5 (surface treatment with
sandblasting þ silane) showing more retentive surface.
bond strength values of fiber posts to the roots repre-
sented in both groups III (surface treatment with chlo-
roform followed by silane) & V (surface treatment with
sandblasting followed by silane) compared to the
chemical and micromechanical roughening of the fiber
posts surfaces alone represented by groups II & IV
respectively. Using Pairwise test, a non-significant in-
crease in bond strength was recorded between group II&
III. Therefore using silanization after chemical treatment
of the post surfaces by chloroform did not significantly
enhance the bond strength of the posts.
On the other hand a significant difference between
group IV & V was recorded with an increase in the mean
values of the push out bond strength of the specimens of
group V versus those of group IV which was confirming
the results of Cheleux et al., 2007 [17] who found that
combination of silanization with sandblasting resulted in
significantly better push out bond strength than sand-
blasting alone. However these results did not confirm
those obtained by Perdigão et al., 2006 [21] who studied
the effect of silane on the bond strength of three types of
fiber posts and concluded that the use of silane coupling
agent did not increase the push out bond strength to any of
the three posts. This controversy might be due to the idea
of using silane alone without any micromechanical or
chemical treatments to the post surfaces. Which was not
tested currently.
5. Conclusion
Within the limitations of this in vitro study of the
bond strength between the post system and luting agent
tested, the following conclusions were drawn:
121
1. The bond strength of the glass fiber-reinforced post
(Easy post) luted by resin based luting cement was
influenced by different post surface treatments.
2. Silanization increased the bond strength of the mi-
cromechanically treated fiber post surfaces, while
the chemically treated post surfaces were not influ-
enced or affected.
3. The increase in bond strength was more remarkable
in the sandblasted posts followed by silanization.
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