Influence of illuminants and other variables on dental shade selection

Success of restorations and replacement of teeth is dictated by a pleasing color acceptable both to the patient and to the dentist and at the same time matching with the remaining teeth. Selection of the shade has been perceived as a specialized skill which every dentist should possess and which is greatly influenced by the ambient light. Sunlight has been considered as ideal but the fluctuations in it and the difficulty to attain an ideal condition for the sunlight has forced the operators to opt for artificial light sources. The objectives of the present study were to determine and compare the shade of ceramic specimens under five different light sources viz., sunlight, incandescent light, halogen light, tube light and color corrected light, to find out the effect of gazing neutral grey and blue colored cards on shade determination, to find out the influence of gender and experience of the operator on shade selection and to determine the effect of two conceptually different shade guides on the shade selection.