The minimum thickness of a multilayer ceramic restoration required for masking dark background

Masking dark tooth structure or darkness of oral cavity with ceramic restorations is an important concern. The aim of this study was to determine the minimum thickness of a multilayer all-ceramic restoration (IPS-emax Press) required for a proper masking in these situations.

In this experimental in vitro study, 36 multilayer ceramic disks of IPS e.max Press (IvoclarVivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein) with the diameter of 13 mm were prepared and allocated in six groups of different core/veneer thicknesses: 0.4/0.4 mm (G1), 0.5/0.5 mm (G2), 0.6/0.6 mm (G3), 0.8/0.7 mm (G4), 1.0/0.8 mm (G5), and 1.1/0.9 mm (G6). For backgrounds, the standard black tile of spectrophotometer (B) was used to stimulate the darkness of oral cavity, and an opaque ceramic (OC) of IPS-emax Press (OC) was fabricated to determine the masking ability. CIELAB values of all disks on B and OC backgrounds were measured, and ΔE was calculated between two backings. One-way ANOVA and post hoc tukey test were used to analyze the data. ΔE ≤3.3 and P < 0.05 were considered, respectively, as the clinically acceptable limit and the level of statistical significancy.

The mean ΔE between B and OC of groups 4 (2.83 ± 0.80) and 5 (1.46 ± 0.36) were within the range of the clinically acceptable color difference (ΔE ≤3.3); thus these groups could properly mask the black background. A trend was existed in the results as by increasing the thickness, ΔE was decreased.

A thickness of 1.5 mm of a multilayer ceramic restoration (IPS e.max Press) is required to mask a dark discoloration.