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Does gender and experience influence shade matching quality?
Helene J Haddad1, Holger A Jakstat, Gerwin Arnetzl
1Dental School, St. Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon. helene.haddad@usj.edu.lb
Journal of Dentistry
|June 13, 2009
Summary
Gender significantly impacts dental shade matching quality, with females outperforming males. However, professional experience did not influence shade matching accuracy in this study.
Area of Science:
- Dental materials science
- Human perception and cognition
Background:
- Accurate shade matching is crucial for esthetic dental restorations.
- Factors influencing shade matching accuracy, such as gender and experience, require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of gender on dental shade matching quality.
- To determine if the level of professional experience influences shade matching accuracy.
Main Methods:
- A cross-cultural study involving 614 color-normal participants (305 female, 309 male) from 15 universities in 9 countries.
- Participants underwent training using specialized software (Toothguide Trainer and Toothguide Training Box).
- Shade matching ability was assessed by comparing participants' selections to 15 shade guide tabs, with scores calculated as the sum of color differences (SigmaDeltaE(ab)(*) score).
Main Results:
- The overall mean shade matching score was 41 (±21).
- Female participants achieved significantly better scores (38 ±20) compared to male participants (44 ±21) (p<0.001).
- No statistically significant difference in shade matching scores was found between dental students (42 ±20) and dental professionals (39 ±21).
Conclusions:
- Gender is a significant factor influencing dental shade matching performance, with females demonstrating superior accuracy.
- The level of experience in dentistry does not appear to be a determining factor in shade matching ability.
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