Color stability of denture base acrylic resins in three food colorants

Three commonly used artificial dyes in food technology are erythrosine, tartrazine, and sunset yellow.

The color stability of 5 commercially available denture base acrylic resins (QC-20, Meliodent, Trevalon, Trevalon High, and Lucitone) was studied in vitro.

The specimens were exposed to 3% erythrosine, tartrazine, and sunset yellow solutions at 23 degrees C +/- 1 degrees C. Color changes were determined with a computer-controlled spectrophotometer. Five specimens from each material were processed, and initial color measurements were made after 1, 3, and 6 months of exposure to the staining solutions. Finally, the color stability was quantitatively measured again, and color differences (DeltaE) were calculated.

For the observations made in 1, 3, and 6 months intervals, the specimens that exhibited the least color change were in the sunset yellow solution. The greatest color changes observed according to the National Bureau of Standards unit system were Lucitone (2.71) in erythrosine solution, Lucitone (2.54), QC-20 (1.71) in tartrazine solution, and QC-20 (1.66) in sunset yellow solution. The changes in the other acrylic resins in the 3 solutions were slight and at trace level.

All materials tested were acceptable from the standpoint of color stability for long-term exposure to these food colorants.