Effects of the substructure thickness, the resin cement color and the finishing procedure on the color and translucency of zirconia-based ceramic restorations

Abstract

Background. The ability to simulate the natural appearance of teeth in dental restorations is one of the most important factors that make treatment successful. Objectives. The present study evaluated the effects of the substructure thickness, the resin cement color and the finishing procedure on the color and translucency of bilayer zirconia-based ceramic restorations. Material and methods. Yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) CAD/CAM blocks (dimensions of 6.0 × 5.5 × 0.4 mm, 6.0 × 5.5 × 0.8 mm, and 6.0 × 5.5 × 1.6 mm) veneered with the fluorapatite-containing ceramics were used. For polishing, the surfaces of half of the test specimens were adjusted with a blue-belted diamond porcelain bur and a white polishing rubber, and the other half were glazed. The test specimens were then cemented with 2 different colors of the same self-adhesive resin cement to the resin composite. A spectrophotometer was used to measure the L*, a*, and b* color attributes of the specimens. Additionally, the ΔE values were calculated to determine color differences between each group and the control. Data was analyzed using the multifactorial repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and subgroup analysis (p < 0.005). Results. It was found that the highest substructure thickness resulted in the lowest color change (ΔE = 1.24) (p < 0.005). However, a substructure thickness of 0.8 mm showed less color change (ΔE = 1.39) than the 0.4-mm thickness (ΔE = 3.85) in the translucent resin cement/polished subgroup, as measured against a gray background (p = 0.001). Conclusions. The most significant factor in masking the abutment color in zirconia-based restorations is the thickness of the substructure. The surface finishing procedure or the resin cement color do not have a primary effect on the color change or translucency.