Perfect color of dental prosthetic restorative work - reality or utopia?

Abstract:

In everyday clinical practice there is often a problem with choosing colors for prosthetic restorative work. Color is one of the most important parameters in evaluating prosthetic work. With the development of technology, i.e. colorimetric and spectrophotometry, errors that undermined the appearance of a prosthetic device are reduced to a minimum. Choosing colors is an important process and represents the biggest challenge for the clinician. While planning the color the clinician can use a subjective and objective approach. The subjective approach is based on the use of “key color”, while the objective approach necessitates the use of computer systems for digitally determining color. Literature data confirms that the instrumental method of determining the color is much more objective than the visual, because it excludes the possible subjectivity of dentists and laboratory technicians. Also, the data obtained by instrumental methods can be compared with one another and are easier to apply in practice. The application of computer systems for digitally determining the color of prosthetics provides direction for the future development of the dental field. 

Key words:
dental prosthetics; prosthetic color; tooth color