Light Transmission through a Translucent Fiber Post

Abstract

This study is a quantitative assessment of the luminous energy transmitted through different translucent fiber posts. After embedding the posts in black resin, the blocks were submitted to sequential cuts in a precision machine, and depths of 16 mm, 12 mm, 8 mm, and 4 mm were assessed for light transmission with a digital photometer. The quantitative analysis showed significant differences between different posts and depths. Furthermore, the values obtained revealed that the quantity of luminous energy transmitted depends on the type of post and that for all of them there was a significant reduction of the quantity of light transmitted as the depth increased. Even without the post, the luminous intensity inside the canal seems to decrease to levels that are insufficient for polymerization, especially in the apical third.