A Comparative Study of Tooth Shade Selection Methods Between Visual, Smartphone Camera, and Vita Easyshade...

Area of Science:

• Dental Esthetics
• Digital Dentistry
• Color Science in Dentistry

Background:

• Increasing emphasis on dental esthetics necessitates accurate tooth shade selection.
• Enamel and dentin translucency/opacity complicate traditional shade matching.
• Smartphone cameras present a potential tool for improving shade selection accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of visual shade selection, smartphone photography, and spectrophotometry.
• To evaluate the performance of these methods for chroma, value, and hue assessment.
• To determine the reliability of smartphone photography for clinical shade matching.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 82 dental students.
• Comparison of visual method, smartphone photography, and Vita Easyshade spectrophotometer.
• Accuracy calculated with 95% confidence intervals, using visual method as reference.

Main Results:

• Smartphone photography showed comparable accuracy to the visual method for chroma, value, and hue.
• The Easyshade spectrophotometer was comparable for chroma but significantly lower for value.
• Shade selection accuracy was highest for chroma, followed by value, and lowest for hue.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone photography is a potentially reliable tool for dental shade selection in clinical practice.
• Digital imaging offers a viable alternative to traditional methods for accurate tooth color assessment.