Instrumental and visual evaluation of the color adjustment potential of resin composites.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the instrumental and visual color adjustment potential (CAP-I, CAP-V), of resin composites. METHODS: Resin composites tested were Omnichroma, Filtek Supreme Ultra, TPH Spectra, Herculite Ultra, and Tetric EvoCeram. Two types of specimens, "dual" and "single" were evaluated. For dual specimens, class I preparations (4 mm-diameter, 2 mm-depth), were created in denture teeth and restored with test resin composites. For single specimens, replications of denture teeth were created using the test resin composites (n = 5) and compared with unrestored denture teeth. Reflectance values were obtained using a spectroradiometer. CAP-I and CAP-V were calculated. Fisher PLSD intervals for comparison of means were calculated at the 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: CAP-I ranged between 0.02 and 0.67. The Fisher PLSD interval for comparisons between single/dual color differences was 0.09 (P < .0001, power 1.0) and for comparisons between materials and shades 0.18 and 0.33, respectively (P < .0001, power 1.0). CAP-V ranged between 0.16 and 0.60. The Fisher PLSD interval for comparisons between single/dual visual color differences was 0.05 (P < .0001, power 1.0) and 0.08 and 0.14 for comparisons between materials and shades, respectively (P < .0001, except Herculite Ultra-Tetric EvoCeram and certain shade pairs). CONCLUSIONS: Instrumental color differences and visual rating of single specimens were the greatest for Omnichroma, indicating the largest mismatch, while the instrumental and visual color differences of dual specimens were the smallest. Omnichroma had the most pronounced CAP-I followed by Tetric EvoCeram>TPH Spectra = Filtek Supreme Ultra >Herculite Ultra. Similarly, Omnichroma exhibited the most pronounced CAP-V followed by Tetric EvoCeram>TPH Spectra = Herculite Ultra = Filtek Supreme Ultra. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Resin composites with pronounced CAP blends with surrounding enamel and dentin, resulting in reduced color differences and therefore improving the esthetic appearance of the restoration, simplifying the shade matching and compensating for any color mismatch.