The Influence of the Color of the Abutment Tooth on the Color of All Ceramic Crowns

Abstract

All-ceramic crowns are the most esthetic, because they transmit light similarly to natural teeth. However, because of the translucency of all-ceramic crowns, the color of the abutment tooth can affect the color of the final crowns.
The aim of this study was to investigate the influences of the color of the abutment tooth on all-ceramic crowns.
Ceramic disc specimens (In-Ceram, Hi-Ceram, Optec and G-cera II), metal disc abutment specimens (type IV gold and gold-silver-palladium alloy) and porcelain disc abutment specimens (A 1 and A 4) were used for the study. The color of ceramic specimens was measured with a small area colorimeter by translucent and reflectant methods and evaluated by the CIE L*a*b* color system.
The results were as follows:
1. All ceramic systems with an aluminous core have low translucency, so the color of the abutment tooth does not have to be considered.
2. All ceramic systems with masking porcelain have high reflectance, so the light reflectance have to be considered.
3. All ceramic systems with high translucency have to be considered due to the effect of the color of the abutment tooth.