Translucency of esthetic dental restorative CAD/CAM materials and composite resins with respect to thickness and surface roughness.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Little information is available about the translucency of monolithic CAD/CAM materials.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the translucency of restorative CAD/CAM materials and direct composite resins with respect to thickness and surface roughness.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In total, 240 disk-shaped specimens (12×14×1 mm and 12×14×2 mm) of 3 different CAD/CAM glass ceramics (CELTRA Duo, IPS e.max CAD, IPS Empress CAD), a fine-structure feldspathic ceramic (VITA Mark II), a hybrid ceramic (VITA Enamic), a resin nanoceramic composite resin (LAVA Ultimate), an experimental (CAD/CAM nanohybrid composite resin), 2 interim materials (Telio CAD; VITA CAD-Temp), and 3 direct composite resins (Tetric EvoCeram; Filtek Supreme XTE; Tetric EvoCeram Bulk Fill) were fabricated (n=10). After 3 different surface pretreatments (polished, rough SiC P1200, or SiC P500), absolute translucency and surface roughness were measured using spectrophotometry and tactile profilometry. The influence of material type, thickness, and roughness on absolute translucency was analyzed using a multivariate analysis, 1-way ANOVA, and the Tukey HSD post hoc test (P<.05). Pearson correlations and statistical hypothesis tests were used to assess the results (P<.05).

RESULTS: The effect of all tested parameters was significant among the materials (P<.05). The greatest influence on the measured translucency was thickness (partial eta squared ηP²=.988), closely followed by material (.982), and the pretreatment method (.835). The surface roughness was strongly influenced by the pretreatment method (.975) and type of material (.941).

CONCLUSION: Thickness and surface roughness are major factors affecting the absolute translucency of adhesively luted restorations.