This study evaluated the fracture resistance of teeth submitted to internal bleaching and restored with different procedures. Forty maxillary incisors were endodontically treated and assigned to 4 groups (n=10): G1- restored with composite resin (CR), G2- bleached with hydrogen peroxide (HP) and restored with CR, G3- restored with CR and fiberglass posts (CR + posts) and G4- bleached and restored with CR + posts. HP was applied in the buccal surface and pulp chamber 3 times at each one of 2 sessions with an interval of 7 days between them. Additional 10 sound incisors were subjected to fracture strength test (gold standard). The fracture strength (kN) was determined in an Instron machine. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer test (α=0.05). The untreated teeth (gold standard) showed the highest (p<0.05) fracture strength (0.43 ± 0.16). Teeth restored with CR (G1) without internal bleaching had the lowest (p<0.05) fracture strength (0.23 ± 0.11). Teeth bleached and restored with CR (G2) (0.26 ± 0.10), restored with CR + posts ithout internal bleaching (G3) (0.31 ± 0.17) and, bleached and restored with CR + posts (G4) (0.33 ± 0.12) had intermediate values, sometimes similar to the group with the highest value, sometimes similar to the group with the lowest value. In conclusion, as far as the fracture strength is concerned, teeth subjected to internal bleaching can be restored with composite resin alone, as the use of posts in these teeth did not increase their resistance.
bleaching; fracture resistance; fiber post; composite resin
