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Khashayar G, Dozic A et al. Dent Mater 2014; 30: 493–498

Is the perfect composite shade match mere serendipity? For as the thickness of enamel decreases from the incisal third of the tooth, there are both changes to the chroma and value. Tooth structures are anisotropic (properties are directional dependent) whereas dental composites are isotropic (properties of a material are identical in all directions). There are two methods for carrying out the 2-layer composite layering technique. The first uses the same shade of composite for both the 'dentine' and 'enamel' with the latter composite having increased translucency. In the alternative method, the 'dentine' and 'enamel' composites are of different shades and translucencies. In this study, a spectrophotometer was used to measure the CIE L*a*b* values for 36 bi-laminate wedge specimens formed from six different composite systems. Regardless of approach, even for small changes in the thicknesses of composite, there were dramatic differences in shade, particularly when using different shades for the 'dentine' and 'enamel'.