Color Match Assessment of a Single Shade Structurally Colored Universal Resin Composite

Matching the color of resin composite utilized in anterior teeth is believed to be one of the most challenging tasks a dentist has to face in daily practice. The color of the teeth is primary influenced by dentin; on the other hand, enamel has a major influence on the color perception in terms of lightness. In the layering concept, the missing dental tissues are substituted in increments with resin composite of the exact shade as the dental tissue. A translucent composite resin is applied over a more opaque composite resin to achieve a depth perception similar to that of the natural teeth. Which indicates that the visible color is the consequence of diffuse reflectance from the internal dentin or opaque material layer through the external translucent layer. There are numerous elements that make the color matching problematic. These problems arise from the point that color matching rely on many different chromatic properties related to the teeth and resin composite; those include hue, chroma and value; translucency, opalescence and fluorescence; light diffusion and transmission; and luster and texture of the surface. To reach the ideal esthetics, restorative material should mimic the natural tooth in the previously mentioned properties, in addition of having a long time color stability. Massive efforts were achieved over the years to improve the esthetic properties of dental resin composite restorative materials. Recently, a single shade structurally colored universal composite (Omnichroma, Tokuyama Dental) intended for use with most direct restorative clinical cases was introduced in the market. Its manufacturer claimed that it exhibits color change toward the color of the surrounding hard dental tissues. Thus, it has the advantages of improving the esthetic appearance of the restoration, decrease dependence on shade-matching procedures, decrease the number of shade guide tabs, and counteract for color mismatches to some degree. Up till now no studies assessed th