color stability of enamel following different acid etching and color exposure times

background and aims. the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different etching times on enamel color stability after immediate versus delayed exposure to colored artificial saliva (cas). materials and methods. human first premolars were divided into five groups of twenty. a colorimeter was used according to the cie system on the mid-buccal and mid-lingual surfaces to evaluate initial tooth color. samples in group a remained unetched. in groups b to e, buccal and lingual surfaces were initially etched with phosphoric acid for 15 and 60 seconds, respectively. then, the samples in groups a and c were immersed in colored artificial saliva (cola+saliva). in group b, the teeth were immersed in simple artificial saliva (as). samples in groups d and e were immersed in as for 24 and 72 hours, respectively before being immersed in colored as. the teeth were immersed for one month in each solution before color measurement. during the test period, the teeth were retrieved from the staining solution and stored in as for five minutes. this was repeated 60 times. color changes of buccal and lingual surfaces were calculated. kruskal-wallis and wilcoxon tests were used for statistical analysis (α≤0.05). results. there were no significant differences between the groups in term of e of buccal (p=0.148) and lingual surfaces (p=0.73). conclusion. extended time of etching did not result in significant enamel color change. immediate and delayed exposure of etched enamel to staining solutions did not result in clinically detectable tooth color changes.