Preparation Ferrule Design Effect on Endocrown Failure Resistance

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the effect of preparation ferrule inclusion with fracture resistance of mandibular molar endocrowns. Materials and Methods Recently extracted mandibular third molars were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 12) with the coronal tooth structure removed perpendicular to the root long axis approximately 2 mm above the cemento‐enamel junction with a slow‐speed diamond saw. The pulp chamber was exposed using a diamond bur in a high‐speed handpiece with pulpal remnants removed and canals instrumented using endodontic hand instruments. The chamber floor was restored using a resin core material with a two‐step, self‐etch adhesive and photopolymerized with a visible light‐curing unit to create a 2 mm endocrown preparation pulp chamber extension. One and two millimeter ferrule height groups were prepared using a diamond bur in a high‐speed handpiece following CAD/CAM guidelines. Completed preparation surface area was determined using a digital measuring microscope. Scanned preparations were restored with lithium disilicate restorations with a self‐adhesive resin luting agent. All manufacturer recommendations were followed. Specimens were stored at 37°C/98% humidity and tested to failure after 24 hours at a 45° angle to the tooth long axis using a universal testing machine. Failure load was converted to MPa using the available bonding surface area with mean data analyzed using Kruskal‐Wallis/Dunn ( p = 0.05). Results Calculated failure stress found no difference in failure resistance among the three groups; however, failure load results identified that the endocrown preparations without ferrule had significantly lower fracture load resistance. Failure mode analysis identified that all preparations demonstrated a high number of catastrophic failures. Conclusions Under the conditions of this study, ferrule‐containing endocrown preparations demonstrated significantly greater failure loads than standard endocrown restorations; however, calculated failure stress based on available surface area for adhesive bonding found no difference between the groups. Lower instances of catastrophic failure were observed with the endocrown preparations containing 1 mm of preparation ferrule design; however, regardless of the presence of ferrule, this study found that all endocrown restorations suffered a high proportion of catastrophic failures but at loads greater than reported under normal masticatory function.