Objectives: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the Vickers hardness (VHN) of a Light Core (Bisco) composite resin after root reinforcement, according to the light exposure time, region of intracanal reinforcement and lateral distance from the light-transmitting fibre post.
Methods: Forty-five 17-mm long roots were used. Twenty-four hours after obturation, the root canals were emptied to a depth of 12 mm and the root dentine was artificially flared to produce a 1mm space between the fibre post and the canal walls. The roots were bulk restored with the composite resin, which was photoactivated through the post for 40s (G1, control), 80 s (G2) or 120 s (G3). Twenty-four hours after post-cementation, the specimens were sectioned transversely into three slices at depths of 2, 6 and 10mm, corresponding to the coronal, middle and apical regions of the reinforced root. Composite VHN was measured as the average of three indentations (100g/15 s) in each region at lateral distances of 50, 200 and 350 microm from the cement/post-interface.
Results: Three-way analysis of variance (alpha=0.05) indicated that the factors time, region and distance influenced the hardness and that the interaction timexregion was statistically significant (p=0.0193). Tukey's test showed that the mean VHN values for G1 (76.37+/-8.58) and G2 (74.89+/-6.28) differed significantly from that for G3 (79.55+/-5.18).
Conclusions: Composite resin hardness was significantly lower in deeper regions of root reinforcement and in lateral areas distant from the post. Overall, a light exposure time of 120 s provided higher composite hardness than the shorter times (40 and 80s).