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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
Published on: August 22, 2022
Relation in color of three regions of vital human incisors
Alma Dozic1, Cornelis J Kleverlaan, Irene H A Aartman
1Department of Dental Material Sciences, ACTA, Louwesweg 1, 1066 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. a.dozic@acta.nl
Objectives:
For an adequate color reproduction, it is very valuable to quantify the color distribution in human teeth accurately. The aim of this study was to determine the color relation between three tooth segments (cervical, middle and incisal) in vital upper central incisors, using digital photography.
Methods:
Digital recordings of 64 upper right central incisors were made using a standardized head-camera setup. The L*a*b* values of three regions were attained from the standardized digital images using software.
Results:
There were statistically significant linear correlations for L* and b* between the three tooth segments (all r's > or = 0.60; p < 0.001). The correlation coefficient for a* was lower compared to L* and b* values. The L* and b* values of cervical and incisal tooth segment could be calculated from L* and b* values of middle tooth segment.
Significance:
These results show the potency for color mapping of a whole tooth surface by extrapolation of color values of only one part of the surface.
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