The aim of the article is to present a narrative review of the literature related to the different shade guides available for dental practitioners.A literature search was performed in the online databases -PubMed, Science Direct, MedLine and GoogleScholar with the following keywords -shade guide, shade matching, dental, dentistry. Furthermore, a hand search, including "grey" literature and printed resources available to the authors, was conducted. More than 2100 unique articles, including the selected keywords, were identified. After a critical review and elimination process, 39 of the papers were included.Dental shade guides are a set of colour standards mimicking the colour of tissues, which dentists aim to restore -tooth structures, gingival tissues or facial structures in facial prosthodontics -skin, mucosa, eyes etc. They can be systematized based on the following principles -fabrication process, the material of manufacturing or restoration and according to the tissues, which are restored.The most commonly used shade guides in the dental practice are structured around Munsell's 3-dimensional colour system and are aimed at the restoration of tooth colour. The colour standards for gingival and facial restoration are not routinely utilized since they are aimed at specialists in prosthetic dentistry and facial prosthodontics and are underdeveloped to some degree in comparison with the aforementioned.The contemporary development in aesthetic restorative materials and procedures requires an adequate follow up in the evolution of shade guides since they present the only means of communication between the dental office and laboratory.

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