Effect of Clinical Experience on the Shade Matching Accuracy in Different Dental Occupational Groups

Abstract

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of clinical experience level on the shade matching accuracy in different dental occupational groups.Materials and methodsA total of 80 participants, assigned to one of four groups depending on the level of their clinical experience in shade matching: dental technicians (DTs), residents in prosthodontics (RPs), specialists in prosthodontics (SPs) and dental students (DSs) took part in the study. They were asked to use Tooth guide Training Box (TTB) and determine 15 standardized shade tabs using VITA 3D-Master shade guide. The number of mistakes in final test for each participant was recorded and accuracy was calculated. Color difference (ΔE) values for each shade were calculated from L*, a* and b* values. Differences in accuracy, mean ΔE values and mean error ΔE values between four different groups were examined.ResultsNo statistically significant differences were found between the groups regarding accuracy and mean ΔE values (p>0.05). The accuracy rate in four groups was 0.51±0.20 (DTs), 0,54±0.18 (RPs), 0.49±0.16 (SPs) and 0.55±0.14 (DSs), respectively. Mean ΔE values were 2.10±0.98 (DTs), 2.18±0.97 (RPs), 2.51±0.97 (SPs) and 2.08±0.86 (DSs), respectively. Regarding mean error ΔE values, DTs made errors with significantly less deviations compared to other groups (p<0.05).ConclusionsThis study has shown that clinical experience is not found to be a significant factor to the shade matching accuracy. With regard to the mean error ΔE values, DTs were more successful in shade matching than other participants.

An Overview of Shade Selection in Clinical Dentistry

“…Presently, there are a number of accessible shade guides applied in the clinical practice of dentistry: Vita classical (Bad Säckingen, Germany: VITA Zahnfabrik H. Rauter GmbH & Co.), Vita Tooth guide or 3D-Master shade guide (Bad Säckingen, Germany: VITA Zahnfabrik H. Rauter GmbH & Co.) and Chromascop (Buffalo, NY, USA: Ivoclar Vivadent Inc.). They are based on Munsell's guiding principles that distribute the color space into three dimensions: hue (name of the color), chroma (color density) and value (vitality of color) [27,32].…”

Effect of CAD/CAM Ceramic Thickness on Shade Masking Ability of Discolored Teeth: In Vitro Study

“…Additionally, digital shade selection can minimize the drawbacks of subjective shade selection that can be affected by a dentist's own vision, color blindness, surrounding environment (including colors of walls and ceiling and type of light available in the dental clinic), patient's skin color, age, gender, and the duration consumed in shade selection where extended duration might lead to eye fatigue [12][13][14].…”

Shade Guides Used in the Dental Practice

“…(Fig. 1) With the increase of the number, the Chroma increases, while at the same time, the value decreases [27].…”

“…The shade tab's order is analogous to the logic used in the ceramic based shade guides. Disinfecting solutions, heat, polishing and storage time can greatly affect composite resin materials and should be taken into consideration when using these shade guides [27,36].…”