Color stability of esthetic restorative materials used in pediatric dentistry: An in vitro study

Children consume foods that are colorful which contain food additives that stain not only the tooth structure but also the restorations. As esthetics is of prime concern for both parents and children nowadays, long-term color stability of restorative materials is of utmost importance.

To evaluate the color stability of two tooth-colored restorative materials (conventional glass ionomer cement [GIC] and giomer) when immersed in various consumable drinks and food (aerated beverage, ice candy, and health drink) at different immersion periods (low, moderate, and high).

A total of 100 specimens were made with each restorative material. Ten were used as a control and remaining (n = 90) as experimental. The experimental specimens were divided into three groups based on media of immersion (n = 30 each) and were further divided into three subgroups based on immersion time (n = 10 each). The color changes (ΔE values) were measured using spectrophotometer.

Both the tested materials showed color change; however, conventional GIC showed greater ΔE values when compared to giomer and the samples exposed to aerated beverage resulted in highest color change. It is also noticed that greater the exposure time, higher are the ΔE values.

Giomer showed more resistance to color change than conventional GIC with all the tested media and immersion regimes.