The color of an esthetic restorative material is controlled primarily by thickness of the material and background color. Although the effects of the two factors on the color coordinates of esthetic dental materials have been reported, the mechanism has not been clarified well enough to explain the effects quantitatively. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of thickness and background color on the color of tooth colored restorative materials quantitatively. One hundred sixty samples were fabricated from two commercial light-cured composite resins and two commercial compomers. The color characteristics and changes in the color coordinates were measured by a tristimulus colorimeter (Model TC-6FX, Tokyo Denshoku Co. Japan) using the CIELAB system. The results were as follows: 1. As thickness increased from 1.0 to 4.0mm, values of $L^*$ $a^*$ $b^*$ changed irregulary for white and dentin color background, but showed no obvious difference in color for black background. 2. The colors of composite resins and compomers were significantly influenced by background color. 3. The color difference was recognized even the same shade name in four representative kinds of composite resins and compomers. 4. As thickness changed, values of color difference for same products and same background color showed constancy, but showed difference for different background color.