Objectives: To evaluate the colour stability of 3 recently developed resin based materials continuously exposed to various staining agents.Methods: 144 disc-shaped specimens were made of each of the 3 tested composites (Essentia, Brillant, Inspiro). Half of them were of 1mm thickness, the other half 1.2mm thickness. The thicker group was than polished up to 4000 grit and reduced to 1mm thickness, too. All specimens after 24 h dry storage in an incubator (INP-500, Memmert), received an initial colour measurement by means of a calibrated refl ectance spectrophotometer (SpectroShade, MHT, Niederhasli, Switzerland). Specimens were then divided into 6 groups (n=6) and immersed in 5 staining solutions or artifi cial saliva (control). All specimens were kept in an incubator at 37°C for 28 days. Staining solutions (red wine, curry mixed water, curry mixed oil, tea and coffee) were changed every 7th day to avoid bacteria or yeast contamination. After 28 days of storage spectrophotometric measurements were repeated and L*a*b* scores once more recorded to determine the colour (∆E00) changes.Results: All tested materials showed signifi cant color changes after 28 days staining immersion.When considered over a black background ∆E00 of polished samples varied from 1.7 (Brillant/ distilled water) to 24.1 (Brillant/wine).When considered over a white background ∆E00 of polished samples varied from 1.1 (Essentia/ distilled water) to 32.5 (Inspiro/wine).When considered over a black background ∆E00 of unpolished samples varied from 1.1 (Essentia, Inspiro/distilled water) to 25.8 (Essentia/wine).When considered over a white background ∆E00 of unpolished samples varied from 1.4(Inspiro/ distilled water) to 33.1 (Inspiro/wine).
Conclusions:Staining of restorative materials seems to be dependent on the composition of the product itself. Unpolished samples demonstrated to be more prone to staining than the polished ones.