Comparison of Shade Matching Ability among Dental Students under Different Lighting Conditions: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Successful esthetic dentistry to meet patient satisfaction and produce a progressive impact on someone’s personality cannot be succeeded without proper shade selection, both for direct or indirect restoration of dentition. The accurate shade selection is one of the most interesting phases of restoring the natural look of teeth. In clinical practices, dental students should be aware of the various light sources used for shade selection. The purpose of this research is to compare the shade matching ability of clinical and non-clinical students under clinical and correcting light. This comparative cross-sectional study was instigated amongst clinical and non-clinical students of the dental complex of King Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after obtaining ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee with reference number (KFU-REC-2022-MAR-EA000518). A total of 102 students assessed the shade under clinical (fluorescent light) and correcting light (handheld Dental Base Light) by using VITA Classical shade guides. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23. The Chi-square test and t-test were used to evaluate the association between shade matching scores under correcting and clinical light. Out of 102 students, 41 (40.2%) were non-clinical and 61 (59.8%) were clinical, with a mean age of 21.66 ± 1.397 years. Shade matching scores were found significantly higher (p < 0.001) with the light-correcting device (2.29 ± 1.26) as compared to clinical light (1 ± 1.11) for non-clinical students. Similarly, clinical students also had significantly better (p < 0.001) shade matching with the light-correcting device (4.01 ± 1.34) in comparison to clinical light (2.47 ± 1.25). This study concluded that the shade matching scores under correcting light was significantly better than the results obtained by dental operatory light. Furthermore, it was also evidenced that clinical students’ skills in matching shades were significantly improved under a correcting light source as compared to non-clinical students.

Comparative evaluation of the effects of lighting conditions on the shade selection of maxillary central incisor using visual methods

“…The Kappa value was found with strong correlation for observers 1, 3, 4, and 5; whereas the agreement was slight for observer 2. These results are in agreement with the studies performed by Curd, 44 Gokce, 11 Jouhar, 45 Berger, 5 and Carsten. 16 The authors concluded that the shade selection performed under the shade correcting devices used in their respective studies was significantly better than the shades selected under sunlight.…”

“…Effect of the incident light has been studied in the past but these experiments have been carried out comparing the shade tabs of shade guides. 3,11,26,27,30,32,34,35,44,45 The observers in these studies were asked to select a shade of a blinded shade tab with the shade guide. The detriment of this study design is that the shade tabs are inconsistent in their coverage of tooth shades in the population as mentioned by Ahn 46 and Paravina.…”

Study on the conditions of color determination in dentistry.

“…According to the findings of a number of researchers, clinical experience has no appreciable impact on the precision of color-matching [13,14]. Several investigations, however, indicate the opposite [15,16,17]. The study by Juliana A. Medeiros et al involved one hundred individuals, including dentists, dentistry students, dental auxiliaries, dental technicians, and laypeople, and reached the conclusion, based on their findings, that the discernment of the observer has an impact on the precision of tooth color determination.…”

A Clinical Study Comparing the Maxillary Anterior Tooth Shade and Fabricated Crown Shade of the Western Uttar Pradesh Population to Commercial Shade Guides

“…The main tools required to produce a color-matching result are computerized spectrophotometers and colorimeters, which measure color quantitatively. Due to their extreme accuracy, spectrophotometers cannot be used in clinical settings, which occasionally impairs the thinking of the technician and clinician [ 3 ].…”