The long-term use of pediatric medications can lead to discoloration of dental restorations, which affects their durability and longevity. The present in vitro study evaluated the effects of commonly used pediatric medications on the color stability of a conventional and a bulk-fill composite resin. For this study, 80 disc-shaped specimens of each composite were prepared in molds with a diameter of 6 mm and thicknesses of 2 or 4 mm (n = 40 per thickness per material). A spectrophotometer was used to evaluate the baseline color of the specimens in the International Commission on Illumination L*a*b* color space. Each specimen was immersed separately in a container holding 1 of 8 liquid medications (n = 5 per thickness per medication): amoxicillin/clavulanate, clarithromycin, cephalexin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, levetiracetam, multivitamin, or albuterol. After the container was shaken for 2 minutes, the specimen was removed from the medication and stored in artificial saliva. The cycle was repeated every 8 hours for 1 week. The color measurements were repeated after 1 week of immersion cycles, and the overall color change (ΔE*) was calculated; a value of ΔE* > 3.3 was considered clinically perceptible. The data were analyzed with 1-way and 2-way analyses of variance as well as the Levene test and Games-Howell post hoc test (P < 0.05). All specimens displayed clinically perceptible color changes after exposure to medications commonly used by children. The mean color change in the 4-mm bulk-fill composite resin group was significantly greater than that in all other groups (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in color change based on the immersion drug for either of the composites (P > 0.05). The study findings show that exposure of composite resin to certain commonly used pediatric drugs causes color changes that are clinically perceptible.
Keywords: color stability; composite resins; pediatric drug.