Color Differences Between Pink Veneering Ceramics and the Human Gingiva

The aim of this study was to examine 10 different shades of pink ceramic to determine which one best matches the mean color of human gingiva. Bar-shaped zirconia samples were fabricated and veneered with 1 of 10 pink zirconia veneering ceramics. The color of the gingiva at the central maxillary incisors of 20 healthy volunteers was compared to the pink veneering ceramics using a spectrophotometer (Spectroshade, MHT). The obtained color parameters L*, a*, and b* (CIELAB) of the gingiva and the ceramics were used to calculate the color difference (ΔE). Mean ΔE values were descriptively analyzed and compared to the threshold value for visibility of color differences of gingiva (ΔE = 3.1). The lowest pink ceramic ΔE value obtained (closest to the mean ΔE of all the volunteers' gingiva) was 6.2. All the tested ceramics exhibited a color difference above the threshold value for visibility.