Predicting porcelain thickness required for dental shade matches.
BACKGROUND
Production of a ceramic dental restoration that matches a target shade is dependent on porcelain thickness. Even when adequate porcelain thickness exists, clinical shade matches are difficult to achieve.


OBJECTIVE
This study predicted the thickness of dentin porcelain required to obtain a clinical shade match (</=3 DeltaE units) for a variety of dental porcelain systems and shades.


METHODS
Three all-ceramic crown systems (Empress, Inceram-Alumina, Inceram-Spinell) and 2 metal ceramic systems (Vintage, VMK-95) were evaluated, each in shades A1, A3, and C2. Five specimens of each porcelain, of each shade, were fabricated at thicknesses of 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0 mm. CIE-LAB coordinates were recorded for each specimen, and for the midgingival third of corresponding shade tabs with a Minolta CR-321 colorimeter.


RESULTS
Seventy percent of the color difference between specimen and shade tab was due to high L* (Munsell value) in the specimens. At thicknesses of </=2.0 mm of dentin porcelain, the all-ceramic systems exhibited more shade matches than the metal ceramic systems.


CONCLUSIONS
Specimens made from semi-translucent all-ceramic systems exhibited clinical shade matches that were superior to those made with the metal ceramic systems. Increasing thickness of the semi-translucent systems from 1.0 to 2.0 mm did not improve shade matching.
Douglas
R D
RD
School of Dental Medicine, Southern Illinois University, Alton, IL 62002, USA. Rodougl@slue.edu
Przybylska
M
M
D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000295:instrumentation; D003442:Crowns; D003776:Dental Porcelain / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D003804:Dentin / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005544:Forecasting; D005881:Gingiva / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D017797:Prosthesis Coloring; D013499:Surface Properties
D000538:Aluminum Silicates; C075815:IPS-Empress ceramic; D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys; D003776:Dental Porcelain; C070870:In-Ceram; D000537:Aluminum Oxide