Colour and translucency of opaque‐shades and body‐shades of resin composites

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the optical properties – not only the translucency but also the colours – of opaque‐shade resin composites. The CIELAB parameters (L*, a* and b*) of disks of A2 and opaque A2 (OA2) shades of Charisma (Heraeus‐Kulzer), Solare (GC) and Filtek Supreme (3M) were evaluated on backings of black, white and the material itself to calculate the translucency parameter (TP) and the colour differences (ΔE*) between A2 and OA2. A two‐way analysis of variance (anova) for the TP indicated a less statistically significant TP value in the OA2 shade than the A2 shade for all products. As for the products, Charisma showed a statistically greater TP value than the other two products. Regarding the ΔE* between A2 and OA2, all the products revealed clinically perceptible colour differences (ΔE* > 3.3). Hence, we must take the colour differences of opaque‐shade resin composites into consideration, as well as the translucency of the materials, for a clinically acceptable colour match of the restoration.