Anterior tooth shade selection procedure: influence of light sources and patient’s position

Abstract

Restoration of anterior teeth requires high precision in the shade selection of the restorative material due to its aesthetic appearance. Incorrect selection of shade for the restoration may result in patient’s dissatisfaction due to unaesthetic appearance. This study was conducted to determine the optimum lighting condition and preferable patient’s position that may influence the anterior tooth shade selection at the Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. One hundred dental students from the 4th and 5th year were randomly selected to perform the shade selection procedure on the maxillary central incisor of two selected subjects. The shade of the tooth was predetermined using an intraoral spectrophotometer machine and the result was used as reference for the visual shade selection procedure done by the students. Four different clinical situations were selected and the shade selected by the students’ was compared with the predetermined shade. The result showed that the shade selection for anterior composite resin restoration is more reliable using the first reading taken (46%) when the patient is in the upright position (35.5%) with dental chair light off (56%). As a conclusion, the patient’s position, lighting condition and number of readings taken does influence the result of the shade selection for the anterior tooth.