Evaluation of color changes of dental luting materials in food colorant solutions.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the color stability and water absorption of 3 commercially available resin cements in vitro by storing them in 0.15% erythrosine, dark brown and sunset yellow for 30 days.

Methods: 2 self-adhesive resin cements and 1 dual/light curing, resin-based dental luting material were evaluated (total 120 samples). The CIE L, a, b of 10 mm diameter-2.0 mm height disk shaped samples was measured using a spectrophotometer for color stability on a white background, 10 mm diameter-1.0 mm height disk shaped samples were measured for water absorption before and after storage in food colorant solutions.

Results: The self-adhesive resin cement-sunset yellow group caused the most severe discoloration (27.89 ± 3.64) that is clinically unacceptable. The lowest discoloration was seen in the self-adhesive resin cement control group (3.35 ± 1.13). The highest water absorption was observed in the self-adhesive resin cement-dark brown group (2.41 ± 0.60) and the lowest water absorption in the dental luting material-control group (0.65 ± 0.17).

Conclusions: Storage food colorant solutions affected the color stability and water absorption of different resin cement materials.