Color change in acrylic resin processed in three ways after immersion in water, cola, coffee, mate and wine

Denture bases may undergo color change over time induced by pigment accumulation within their body; however there is a lack of information regarding the role of yerba mate tea in this process. This work evaluated the effect of five common beverages, including yerba mate tea, on color changes of acrylic denture base resins processed in three different ways. Three different processing techniques were used (P1--microwave irradiation/microwave activated resin; P2--heat polymerization/conventional heat activated resin and P3--microwave irradiation/conventional heat polymerized resin) to make twenty five resin discs each (3.0 mm thick x 20 mm diameter), totaling seventy-five resin discs. The discs made with each technique were randomly divided into five groups (n = 5) and placed in the following solutions: G1-water; G2-cola; G3-coffee; G4-yerba mate tea; G5-red wine, for 30 days at 37 degrees C. The solutions were renewed every 3 days. Color change on the CIE-L*a*b* scale was measured with a Konica-Minolta CR-10 colorimeter and compared with original L* a* and b* values of each specimen prior to immersion. Data were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA, and showed no difference among techniques and significant statistical differences among solutions (p < 0.05). Tukey's post-hoc test showed that the lowest color changes were for water and cola, which were undistinguishable from each other; coffee produced the second lowest color change; yerba mate tea produced second greatest color change, while the greatest color change was produced by red wine. Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that almost all the solutions used can change color in acrylic resin, especially yerba mate tea, considered distinguishable by professionals, and red wine, considered distinguishable by patients and clinically unacceptable.