Amir Saad Thesis final revision 03x - IUPUI

SPECIMEN GROUPS
Three groups were tested:
20
1) Group CP: Conventional cast post and core (Elektra, 162 Type IV Silver
Palladium White C&B Alloy; Williams Ivoclar Vivadent, Amherst,
NY) in conventionally prepared root canals of teeth.
2) Group FR: PeerlessPost (Glass fiber; SybronEndo, Orange, CA).
3) Group MR: Prefabricated metal posts (Titanium alloy, Parapost XH;
Coltene Whaledent, Cuyahoga Falls, OH).
The fatigue method utilized and the statistical analyses here were derived from
those described by Thongthammachat et al. 93
SPECIMEN FABRICATION
Sixty extracted human canines collected under an IUPUI/Clarian IRB
approved protocol were evaluated with a fiber optic light (DEMI LED light curing
system; Kerr Corporation, Orange, CA) to demonstrate the absence of cracks or
fractures, and by x-ray (x-ray machine cone facing proximal surface) to evaluate the
approximate size of the pulp chamber and canal to rule out calcified and immaturely
wide canals (more than 3 mm) at 15 mm from the apex, and to verify that all root
canals were straight beyond 5 mm from the apex. They were distributed into three
groups of 20 teeth each; 10 teeth of each group were fatigue loaded, and the other 10
were continuously loaded to failure.
The coronal portions of all 60 teeth were removed using a diamond saw
mounted on a thin sectioning machine (Gillings-Hamco; Hamco Machines, Inc.,
Rochester, NY) under water spray to produce a flat surface, perpendicular to the long