A dental post is a screw or rod that strengthens a tooth after it has had a root canal. A root canal removes the nerves, blood vessels & damaged tissue build up from inside a tooth but can leave it weaker than before unless support is added with a post & crown. Without a post the tooth may become loose or even fracture. When done correctly a post-and-core restores the stability & longevity of the tooth.
Posts can be made from metals like gold or titanium, or from ceramic materials such as zirconia. They can also be pre-made & placed directly in the tooth or fabricated in a laboratory before being cemented in at the time of treatment. If a prefabricated post is used then the dentist can complete the entire treatment in one appointment.
How to Craft the Perfect Dental Post for Patient Engagement
The dentist will prepare the tooth by cleaning & shaping the space for the post, ensuring that there is sufficient room to place a core filling & crown. X-rays will be taken to confirm the position of the post & ensure that it is in line with the canal.
When the ‘core’ is placed it will be packed with a dual-cure self-etch adhesive (Futurabond DC) to ensure maximum bonding. This is followed by a radiopaque putty & light cured for 10 seconds to seal the core & surrounding dentin. The core is then finished with a composite or porcelain crown, colour matched to the remaining tooth structure. At VC Dental we use ceramic ‘ monolithic’ CAD/CAM crowns, which are milled from a single block of ceramic material, meaning that the core & post are a unified structure resulting in an exceptionally strong and long-lasting restoration.