Color and shade management in esthetic dentistry

Abstract

The color and appearance of teeth is a complex phenomenon, with many factors such as lighting conditions, translucency, opacity, light scattering, gloss and the human eye and brain influencing the overall perception of tooth color. To achieve esthetics, four basic determinants are required in sequence; viz., position, contour, texture and color. The knowledge of the concept of color is essential for achieving good esthetics. This review compiles the various aspects of color, physics behind perception of color, measurements and shade matching in dentistry for various esthetic treatments.