Effect of staining solutions on color of pre-reacted glass-ionomer containing composites

This study investigated the color stability of pre-reacted glass-ionomer containing composite restoratives. The materials evaluated included one regular (Beautifil II [BF]), two flowable (Beautifil Flow [F02, F10]) and two recently introduced flowable "plus" (Beautifil Flow Plus [F00, F03]) pre-reacted glass-ionomer containing composite restoratives. Twelve specimens of each material (A3 shade) were fabricated, allowed to set for 24 h at 37°C and randomly divided into 4 groups. After baseline spectrophotometric (Crystaleye, Olympus) color measurements, specimens were immersed in water, cola, red wine and coffee for 7 days. Post-immersion color measurements were taken and color changes (ΔE) were computed accordingly. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA and post-hoc Scheffe's test (p<0.05). For pre-reacted glass-ionomer containing composites, color changes after immersion in coffee and red wine were significantly greater than in cola and water. Differences in ΔE values between materials were solution dependent. The least color change was generally observed with the flowable "plus" pre-reacted glass-ionomer containing composites.