2020 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 30-37
Purpose: Recently, the application of composite resin restorations has expanded. Although chromatic studies of composite resins have progressed, color differences measured by colorimeters and visual color evaluation do not always match. The aim of this study was to establish a method of evaluating the visual color of composite resins by using the visual analog scale (VAS), which evaluates subjective data as a continuous variable, and to examine its validity.
Method: One structural color composite resin (experimental resin : ECM-001) and three commercial composite resins of shade A3 were used in this study. Class Ⅴ and class Ⅲ cavities were prepared in artificial maxillary central incisors of four shades (A1, A2, A3, and A3.5) and each composite resin was filled and its color matching was evaluated on a black-and-white background using VAS. The correlation between VAS value and visual evaluation was analyzed. The color matching of teeth and composite resin were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's HSD test (p<0.05). Background differences in the same sample were analyzed by the t-test (p<0.05).
Results: In the Class Ⅴ restoration, ECM-001 showed better color matching than other composite resins. In the Class Ⅲ restoration, ECM-001 showed excellent color matching with a wide range of teeth shades on the white background. The VAS values of the other composite resins were higher on the black background than on the white background. However, the VAS value of ECM-001 on the black background tended to decrease. Because the evaluation of VAS color matching by evaluators showed the same tendency, the VAS value reflects information that can be recognized by visual observation. It is suggested that the evaluation of VAS value correlates with visual evaluation.
Conclusion: It is suggested that the evaluation of color matching of composite resin restorations using VAS is useful for structural color composite resins, providing a new method of visually evaluating composite resin restorations.
