Influence of Different Esthetic Post and Core Materials on Color of Ips Empress 2 Ceramic Crowns

Background and aim: Studies as to the evaluation of clinically relevant color assessment of full ceramic restorations supported by esthetic post and core materials has not been found in the related literature. Thus, this study is conducted to evaluate the color difference of Empress 2 ceramic crowns restored with 4 different esthetic post systems and two different core materials by using colorimeter and digital color analyses techniques. Materials and Methods: Seventy two maxillary central incisors were used in this study. The coronal aspect of each tooth was resected. Teeth were randomly divided into 4 groups and post spaces were prepared. Four post materials, Glass fiber posts, Quartz fiber posts, Zirconia-fiber posts, polietilen fiber were used. Two core materials, dual-cured naturel colored and lightcured light colored, were applied to each group. IPS Empress 2 ceramic crowns with shade A2 were prepared. A human central incisor was selected for control group. Colorimeter and digital analyses were used for color matching in this study. CIE Lab color system was used with following formula for calculation; ΔE=[(ΔL*)2+(Δa*)2+(Δb*)2]1⁄2 Results: The results were analyzed by oneway analyses of variance (ANOVA). According to the digital techniques, there was no significant difference among the post groups and between the core groups(p>.05). However, according to the colorimetric technique, significant differences were observed among the post groups and between the core groups(p<.05). Conclusion: It can be concluded that ΔE* units of post and core groups are lower than perceptibility threshold. Quartz fiber post with light core showed the lowest ΔE* units among all groups.