Comparison of the Accuracy of Digital Dental Color Selection Devices

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of shade selection and matching for esthetic region crown restorations using newly developed digital color selection techniques. Materials and Methods: Ten different crowns were fabricated with randomly selected colors and set as the target crowns. The test samples were randomly divided into four test groups: Group V, wherein the visual color selection was performed using the Vita 3D Master scala (control); Group OPT, wherein the color selection was performed by measuring the target tooth color using a novel clinical colorimeter device; Group SS, wherein the color selection was performed by measuring the target tooth color using a spectrophotometer; and Group IOS, wherein the color selection was performed by scanning the target crowns using intraoral scanning software. A total of 40 crowns were fabricated as test samples using the different shade selection techniques. The L, a*, and b* values of the samples and target crowns were measured using a spectrophotometer. The color difference(ΔE) values were calculated according to the CIEDE2000(2:1:1) formula. The collected data underwent appropriate statistical analysis (α=.05). Results: For Groups V, OPT, SS, and IOS, the average ΔE test values were 2.27, 1.11, 1.73, and 3.03, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between these average ΔE values (P>.05).While there was no statistically significant difference between Groups S,V, and OPT there was a statistically significant difference between the three groups and Group IOS. Conclusion: Color selection techniques using visual methods, spectrophotometer, and Optishade were found to be more successful than color selections made with the intraoral scanner.