Abstract
Objective: The aim of the present in vitro study was to explore the differences in color matching of most frequently used shades for metal ceramic dental restorations fabricated by different laboratories. Materials and Methods: A total sample size of 180 discs of metal ceramic were prepared by six laboratories (labs): each lab prepared 30 samples, 10 for each shade (A1, B1, and C1). Instructions for standardization were provided. A spectrophotometer and CIE LAB system was used to find ΔE value for difference between shades observed by spectrophotometer. For statistical analysis, ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests were used. Significance level was <0.05. Results: Significant variation (p = 0.000) was observed among the labs for ΔE. The maximum value for ΔE in shade A1 was 77.0 ± 0.065 and minimum value for ΔE noted for shade A1 was 69.19 ± 1.39. The values of ΔE for shade B1 were maximum 80.14 ± 0.16 and minimum 68.38 ± 0.40 and the values of ΔE for shade C1 were maximum 80.16 ± 0.14 and minimum 71.62 ± 1.23. Twelve out of 15 comparisons between labs for shade A1, 14 of 15 comparisons for shade B1, and 11 of 15 comparisons for shade C1 showed significant difference (p = 0.000). Conclusions: Similar tooth shades (A1, B1, and C1) when duplicated by different labs exhibited highly significant color variations.
Highlights
One of the most significant factors for success of any fixed dental prosthetic restoration is the accuracy of shade matching with the surrounding dentition [1]
Metal ceramic restorations are widely used because they provide composite of both strength and esthetic [2,3]
Duplicating the exact shade of that of surrounding teeth is more challenging in the case of metal ceramic restorations due to the dark-colored metal underlying the translucent porcelain [2,5,6,7]
Summary
One of the most significant factors for success of any fixed dental prosthetic restoration is the accuracy of shade matching with the surrounding dentition [1]. Duplicating the exact shade of that of surrounding teeth is more challenging in the case of metal ceramic restorations due to the dark-colored metal underlying the translucent porcelain [2,5,6,7]. Factors other than the underlying metal that make the color matching more demanding include adequate tooth preparation, proper selection of appropriate shade in clinics, different brands of porcelain requiring variation in condensation techniques, translucency, fluorescence, opacity, thickness of porcelain layer, surface characteristics, time, and temperature of firing porcelain [2,4,5,7]
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