Multicoloured Restorations for Pediatric Dental Patients

The purpose of this review is to discuss the viability of multicoloured dental restorations in children including possible technical, clinical and psychological aspects of multicoloured restorations. Multicoloured restorations utilizing different colours and glitter inclusions are a restorative option within the context of pediatric dentistry. Furthermore, custom shade guides involving different favourite cartoon characters also may improve a child’s positive interest in dental treatment. Multicoloured compomers have been available for use in the restoration of deciduous molars since 2002. In contrast to conventional poly-acid-modified resin composites, a small amount of glitter particles are included in order to produce colour effect shades of red, pink, blue, gold, etc. The filler content is similar to conventional compomers. Even though a coloured compomer is made to be decorative, it has physical properties that apparently are sufficient to hold up in the mouth until the restored deciduous tooth is lost. Short-term laboratory studies offer some information about the physical properties of new materials. Nevertheless, long-term clinical studies complement these studies and provide further information regarding the performance of these materials over an acceptable time period.