Colour measurements of all ceramic crown systems

The objectives of this study were: (i) to determine variability among colour parameters of five different ceramic crown systems; and (ii) to measure the effect of using coloured luting agents on restoration colour. The crown systems studied were Cerestore, Dicor, Hi-Ceram, Renaissance, and Vitadur-N. Five crowns for each system were made according to manufacturer's instructions with the same nominal shade (Vita Lumin Vacuum A2) to fit an Ivorine central incisor tooth. Restoration thickness was adjusted to within +/- 0.1 mm (+/- 0.05 mm in the mid-facial area where colour measurements were to be made) with the aid of a dial calliper prior to glazing or, in the case of Dicor, surface staining. Where a core was part of the system this was fabricated to the minimum recommended thickness. The crowns were cemented using luting agents of five different colours in a randomly chosen sequence. The colour of each restoration/cement combination was measured three times using a small-area colorimeter (Minolta CR-121). The variance of each colour parameter (L*, a*, b*) was statistically compared for each crown system using an analysis of variance procedure, as was the effect of the cement. Observed differences were related to visual perception by using the colour difference formula. There were statistically significant differences among the variances of the crown systems and the cements, with significant interactions between crown systems and direction of colour and between cement and direction of colour. Restorations made with different ceramic crown systems had noticeably different colour despite having the same nominal shade. Changing the shade of the luting agent had a perceivable effect on Dicor crowns and, to a lesser extent, on Vitadur-N crowns but not on the other systems due, presumably, to the opacity of their core materials.