The Tooth and Skin Colour Interrelationship across the Different Ethnic Groups

Abstract

Objectives. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between skin and tooth colour parameters in various ethnic groups. Materials and Methods. Saudi Arabian, Indian, African, and East Asian ethnic groups of 75 each were included in the study. The tooth colour was determined by spectrophotometer in CIELAB parameters. The skin colour was measured at earlobe, forehead, and malar locations by clinical skin photography. The data was statistically analysed by one-way ANOVA and correlation tests. Results. The “L” vale for the Saudi Arabian group had a strong correlation at earlobe location (r = 0.275), while correlation was found at forehead (r = 0.271) and malar region (r = 0.261) with Indian ethnic group. A strong negative correlation was observed in African ethnic group at all three locations for “L” parameter. The redness value “a” is found to have strong negative linear correlation between the earlobe and tooth for Saudi Arabian (r = −0.240) and Indian ethnic groups (r = −0.268). The “b” showed no correlation with skin location in all groups except positive correlation in African ethnic groups. Conclusions. The strong correlation was found between the skin and tooth colour parameters; hence the skin colour can be used as a guide for artificial tooth selection in edentulous patients.

The relationship of tooth shade and skin tone and its influence on the smile attractiveness

“…Studies focusing on the relationship between skin tone and tooth color are sparse and they have not considered overall esthetic attractiveness. Haralur et al and Vadavadagi et al reported that tooth color was correlated with skin shade, recommending evaluating skin shade as a guide in the choice of tooth color. This recommendation has been supported by other studies reporting that people with a darker skin color have teeth with higher value and people with lighter skin color have darker teeth.…”

The relationship between tooth color, skin and eye color

“…The Saudi Arabian, East Asian, and Indian groups had positive linear correlation with the lightness value between tooth and skin color (31). A significant correlation was found between tooth and skin color.…”

Correlation and multiple regression analysis of the central incisors and gingival color relationship.

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Some studies suggested a significant negative relationship between skin color and tooth shade, where people with light color skin would have teeth with dark shades and people with dark skin would have whiter teeth, also, women were found to have lighter teeth color than men. [1][2][3]7,8 Other studies suggested a significant relationship of skin and tooth color as related to age, where teeth and skin darken as they get more yellow and red components. 5 On the contrary, studies tried to investigate the skin to tooth color relationship, as a reference for selecting teeth for partially or completely edentulous patients, suggested that the dentist should not consider the patient gender or complexion as fixed rules.…”