Color stability of a dental composite after immersion in various media.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of staining solutions on the different shades of a dental composite, and to compare these effects with that of distilled water. Two shades of effect (ET1 and ET2), two shades of enamel (EL and EM), and two shades of dentin (DA1 and DA2) were used. Specimens were immersed in three staining solutions (chlorhexidine gluconate, filtered coffee, and orange juice) and distilled water. Color changes were characterized using the CIELAB color space. Since significant interactions occurred, the staining effect of each solution on each shade was determined using one-way ANOVA and the levels of factor in one-way ANOVA were compared using Tukey's method (p < or = 0.05). The staining solutions were found to be more chromogenic than distilled water, and EM and DA2 shades were found to be more color-stable. Based on the color change results in this study, chlorhexidine gluconate (1.45), filtered coffee (1.43), and orange juice (1.02) were determined as having "slight" staining effects on the tested shades. As for the tested shades in this study, they revealed acceptable color change results.