A comparative evaluation of fracture resistance of fibre reinforced composite, flowable composite and a core build up material: An in-vitro study

Background: An ideal restoration in a tooth should be able to maintain the esthetics and proper form and function. Cavity preparation on a tooth reduces its fracture resistance. Composite resins as restorations have shown to increase the fracture resistance of the teeth . The drawback with these were stress development and low fracture resistance. These disadvantages forced the researchers to search for a newer generation of composite that has better fracture strength with less polymerization shrinkage. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the fracture resistance of fibre reinforced composite, flowable composite and a core build up material on class II cavity. Method and Materials: 90 human maxillary premolars were selected and divided in to 5 Groups. Group 1 served as control group. In Group 2,3,4 & 5 class II cavities were prepared. Group 3,4 & 5 were restored with EverX posterior, SDR and Paracore respectively. All the samples were subjected to Universal testing machine. Results: Statistical tools used were one way analysis of variance, Dunnett’s test and Tukey’s post hoc test. p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Group 3 showed highest mean fracture resistance. Conclusion: Fibre reinforced composite (Group 3) showed maximum mean fracture resistance which was statistically significant when compared to all the tested restorative materials.