Accuracy and Efficiency of the Surgical-Guide-Assisted Fiber Post Removal Technique for Anterior Teeth: An Ex Vivo Study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study compared the accuracy and efficiency of different surgical-guide (SG)-assisted and freehand drilling techniques for removing fiber posts from maxillary anterior teeth performed by differently experienced operators.

METHODS

A fiber post was bonded to the root canal of 54 extracted maxillary anterior teeth. After mounting the teeth in the jaw models, SGs were designed by integrating cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and intraoral scanner data. Each SG included a custom sleeve. An experienced or inexperienced operator drilled the post using three different techniques: (i) SG-assisted incremental drilling at 2-3 mm (SG1), (ii) SG-assisted one-time drilling to a predetermined depth (SG2), and (iii) freehand incremental drilling without SG (FH; n = 9 in each group). Deviations in coronal, sagittal, and horizontal planes and the angle of deviation were measured.

RESULTS

The SG1 and SG2 groups showed significantly smaller sagittal and horizontal deviations than the FH group, regardless of the operator's experience. The SG2 group had a significantly shorter working time than the SG1 and FH groups. In the FH group, the experienced operator required a significantly shorter working time than the inexperienced operator.

CONCLUSIONS

SG-assisted drilling techniques enhanced the accuracy and efficiency of removing fiber posts from the anterior teeth, irrespective of the operator's experience.