Stephen J. Chu - Fundamentals of Color: Shade Matching and Communiation in Esthetic Dentistry

TABLE A-1 Conversion of Vita Linearguide (Toothguide) 3D-Master tabs to Vita Classical tabs

TABLE A-2 Conversion of Vita Classical tabs to Vita Linearguide (Toothguide) 3D-Master tabs

TABLE A-3 Conversion of Vita Linearguide (Toothguide) 3D-Master tabs to Shofu Vintage Al and ZR veneering porcelain*

Successful musicians, painters, and other artists are both gifted and well educated in their craft, and yet they continue to practice and improve their skills. In contrast, little effort is made to assess whether the average dental professional has an eye for shade matching. Moreover, education on color is frequently not even part of the undergraduate or graduate dental school curriculum.13 Years of shade-matching experience practiced under inappropriate conditions, using inadequate tools and methods, can hardly be called color training. The literature shows that dentists often overestimate their color-matching and reproduction abilities. When asked to match 16 corresponding pairs from two Vitapan Classical shade guides using the visual method, the pre- and postdoctoral participants correctly matched only 50%.4 In another study, which closely resembled clinical dentistry in that there was no exact match, the observers choice was the second or third best match.5

Several surveys have been conducted on color education. The first one, in 1967, revealed that only 3 institutions (of the 115 institutions that responded) offered a color science course, and only 2.3 classes, on average, referred to color topics.1 In another survey, core curriculum and elective courses on color were taught at 26% and 17%, respectively, of the 69 responding schools.2 A third survey related to teaching of color in predoctoral and postdoctoral dental education was conducted in 1988. Responses were received from 138 institutions.3 The mean number of hours devoted to color topics was 6.6, and 50% of the schools reported a lack of a color-balanced environment. In addition, 85% of respondents believed that there was a need to develop a new, systematic shade guide. It was concluded that additional efforts should be made regarding the study, research, and application of color science in the dental profession, particularly in undergraduate education.