Effect of metal opaquer on the final color of 3 ceramic crown types on 3 abutment configurations

The effect of a recently introduced metal opaquer when used to mask the color of a titanium abutment under ceramic crown systems is unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare the color coordinates of 3 ceramic crown types—characterized monolithic lithium disilicate (LDC) (IPS e.max; Ivoclar Vivadent AG), layered lithium disilicate (LDL) (IPS e.max; Ivoclar Vivadent AG), and layered zirconia (ZL) (H.C. Starck)—on 3 abutment configurations, nonopaqued titanium (Ti), resin opaqued titanium (Op), and zirconia (Zir). In addition, the color differences (CIEDE2000) were evaluated among the 3 crown types on 3 different abutment substrates. Ten Ti disks (10×1 mm) were fabricated with computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) to represent the Ti abutments. Five Ti specimens were opaqued (Op) (whiteMetal Opaquer wMO; Blue Sky Bio), and 5 were not opaqued (Ti). Ten zirconia disks were fabricated with CAD-CAM and sintered (10×1.2 mm). Five disks were used as backings to represent Zir abutments, and 5 disks were layered with 1 mm of porcelain (B1, IPS e.Max Ceram; Ivoclar Vivadent AG) to represent layered zirconia crowns (ZL). Ten lithium disilicate plates (14×14×1.2 mm) were sectioned from CAD blocks (B1 IPS e.Max CAD; Ivoclar Vivadent AG). Five plates were layered with the same porcelain (B1, 1 mm), and 5 plates were surface characterized and glazed. An LDL crown on a Zir abutment configuration was used as the control. The 3 simulated crown types (n=5) were optically connected to each of the 3 abutment types, and the color of the 9 groups was measured using a spectroradiometer. Measured data were reported in CIELab coordinates. CIELab data were used to calculate color differences between the control and the 8 experimental groups. Color data were summarized for each group, and analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA. For pairwise comparisons, a Bonferroni correction of t tests was used, and for interpretive analysis of resulting color difference data, a 1-way ANOVA and subsequent Tukey testing for pairwise comparisons were used. The statistical significance of the analysis of color coordinates was found to be P≤.002. Although 3-way interaction was not found to be significant (P=.335), all three 2-way interactions of the main effects were found to be significant (P≤.002). All crown types on the Zir abutment revealed color differences from the control group. The color differences of the crown types on the Op and Zir abutment configurations compa