This study evaluated the effect of varying thicknesses of marginal ridge on the fracture resistance of endodontically-treated maxillary premolars restored with composite.Ninety non-carious maxillary premolars, extracted for orthodontic reasons, were selected for this experimental in vitro study. The teeth were randomly assigned to six groups (n=15). Group 1 received no preparation. In groups 2 through 6, the premolars were root filled and DO preparations were created, while MOD preparations were also created for group 2. The condition of the boxes was: the gingival seat was 1.5 mm above the CEJ and the buccolingual dimensions were 3.5 mm in gingival and 3 mm in occlusal. In groups 3 through 6, the dimensions of the mesial marginal ridge were measured using a digital caliper as follows: 2 mm, 1.5 mm, 1 mm and 0.5 mm, respectively. All samples in groups 2 through 6 were restored with a dentin bonding system (DBS: Single Bond, 3M) and resin composite (Z 250, 3M). Subsequently, premolars from all six groups were subjected to a thermocycling regimen of 500 cycles between 5°C and 55°C water baths. Dwell time was 30 seconds, with a 10-second transfer time between baths.The premolars were submitted to axial compression up to failure at a 45° angle to the palatal Preserving the marginal ridge of endodontically-treated composite restored maxillary premolars can act as a strengthening factor and improve fracture resistance. The mean load necessary to fracture the samples was recorded in newtons (N), and data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD post-hoc test.According to these results, the mean loads necessary to fracture the samples in each group were (in N): group 1: 732 ± 239, group 2: 489 ± 149, group 3: 723 ± 147, group 4: 696 ± 118, group 5: 654 ± 183 and group 6: 506 ± 192).Differences between group 1 and groups 2 and 6, and also differences between groups 3, 4 and 5 compared with group 2 and 6 were statistically significant (p<0.05).