Comparison of The Masking Ability and Translucency of Different Tooth Colored Restorative Materials

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the masking ability of different tooth colored restorative materials on SDF arrested carious lesion.

Methods: Eighty disc specimens (n=10 disc specimens per group) were prepared using pink opaquer (PO), pink opaquer with composite resin (DUAL), opaque-shade composite resin (OSC), and resin modified glass ionomer (RMGI) of 1 mm and 2 mm thicknesses. Three backgrounds were prepared: white, C4 dentin (C4D) shade, and black tile. Vita Easyshade spectrophotometer was used to determine CIE L*a*b* values of each disc specimen against each background. The color difference (ΔE) and Translucency Parameter (TP) were analyzed.

Results: There is a significant difference in material masking black background (One-way ANOVA, P< .001) in the following order: PO (TP 5.47) ≈ DUAL (TP 3.89) > RMGI (TP 11.03) > OSC (TP 17.81). For masking the dark background, the result is similar. The thickness makes a significant difference in color masking with 2 mm superior to 1 mm for all 4 tooth colored materials (MANOVA, P< .001). Both PO and DUAL are clinically acceptable color match with dark and black backgrounds (ΔE < 2.7).

Conclusion: PO and DUAL restorative materials are ideal to mask SDF arrested carious lesion on primary teeth.