A clinical study to evaluate the reliability of light-correcting devices in clinical shade selection

Visual and advanced instrumental methods are the most common tools for shade selection. The instrumental methods are considered reliable and provide quantifiable values, but the high cost puts them out of the reach of most dentists. Light-correcting devices provide an economical alternative for clinical shade selection. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of the light-correcting device in clinical shade selection.

The in vivo experimental prospective study sample included 60 volunteers aged 18-25 years, with no severe enamel pigmentation or anomaly in anterior maxillary teeth. Two observers performed visual shade matching of the maxillary right central incisor without a light-correcting device and later with a light-correcting device at the same time of the day at an interval of 1 week. The shades were confirmed with the control value obtained by using a spectrophotometer. Each observer was blinded to the shade color selected by the other examiner. The data collected were subjected to the statistical analysis. The shade measured with the light-correcting device and without its use was compared with the control shade obtained by the spectrophotometer. The value closer to the control shade value was considered accurate, and the method used for shade matching would be considered reliable. The Fleiss kappa statistical test was used to assess the reliability of each method. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Using a light-correcting device significantly increased the reliability of the visual shade selection method. When compared to the shades recorded by the spectrophotometer (control), the use of a light-correcting device as an aid in visual shade selection showed more accurate and reliable results as compared to the visual shade selection without a light-correcting device (P < 0.05).

Light-correcting devices can assist in reliable shade selection and allow better communication with the dental laboratory technician to provide predictable esthetic results.