[Fluorescence of shade guides]

The experimental protocol developed in the previous article (4) has been modified to permit the investigation of the fluorescence of shade guides. The following will be traced out on each graphic display: a reference spectrum using full lines; a sample spectrum using dotted lines; the chromaticity triangle of the X Y Z CIE 1931 system; the chromaticity of the sample to be tested, represented by the sign +; the chromaticity of the reference, represented by the sign -. The shade guides without any rare earth have spectra in the form of wide bands; their intensity decreases when the degree of colour purity in white light of the buttons increases. The shade guides containing rare earth have spectra with both a wide band and thin lines. It has been shown that: the same shade guide can contain different fluorescence components; two shade guides from the same source can have very different fluorescences for buttons of the same reference; two shade guides from different sources can have identical fluorescent components. This study reveals: that unadapted fluorescences of shade guide may be the cause of an error in the choice of the colour of a ceramic restoration; that the comparison of spectra appears to prove that shade guides are not manufactured by the ceramic manufacturers which recommend them and are, in fact, of the same origin.