Color match of four resin cements to their try-in pastes

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the color match of four resin cements to their corresponding try-in pastes. The following materials were evaluated: 3M Experimental Resin Veneer (Cement 6 shades, 3M), Nexus II (4 shades, Kerr), Variolink II (6 shades, Vivadent) and Calibra (5 shades, L.D.Caulk). Methods: Using two glass slides and mylar shim stocks, cement specimens were made at the following thickness: 30, 50, 75, 100, 200, 350 and 500 micrometers. The resin cements were then light cured according to the manufacturer's instructions.. Five specimens were made for each group. The same technique was used when making the try-in paste specimens, except that the specimens were not light polymerized. A Minolta Chroma Meter 221 was used to make the measurements. Five measurements of each specimen were made for each color, averaged and used to calculate the difference (Delta E) between each pair of resin and try-in paste. Results: 3M resin cements had no perceptible color difference between the resin and the try-in paste (DE=0.49-3.3). Nexus shades had practically no perceptible color differences with the exception of the white opaque that had a barely perceptible color difference (Delta E=0.71 - 3.78). Variolink II shades Transparent, Opaque White, A4 Brown and A3 Yellow had practically no perceptible color difference (Delta E=1.19 - 4.56). However the Bleach shade and the A1 White shades showed a barely perceptible color difference. The Calibra resin cements had by far the widest color differences (Delta E=2.8-10.0) from their try-in pastes. Conclusions: The following conclusions can be made: (1) 3M resin cements had the best resin/try-in color match. (2) With the exception of Calibra, all the other resin shades matched their respective try-in pastes.