DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HUMAN EYE AND THE SPECTROPHOTOMETER IN THE SHADE MATCHING OF TOOTH COLOUR

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this work was to assess the agreement between instrumental and visual color matching.

Methods

Shade selection with the 3DMaster Toothguide (Vita-Zahnfabrik) was performed for 1361 maxillary central incisors and compared with the shade obtained with the EasyShade Compact (Vita-Zahnfabrik) spectrophotometer.

Results

We observed a greater correlation between the objective method and the subjective one in the colour dimension of lightness (Kappa 0.6587), followed by hue (Kappa 0.4337) and finally chroma (Kappa 0.3578).

Conclusion

The colour dimension in which the greatest agreement is seen between the operator and the spectrophotometer is value or lightness.
Clinical Significance: This study reveals differences between the measurement of color via spectrophotometry and the visual shade selection method. According to our results, there is better agreement in the value or lightness color dimension, which is the most important one in the choice of tooth color.

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