Do you want to choose the ideal shade to reproduce a natural tooth? Take it slowly because it's not an easy task! To help you out and avoid making mistakes when making your choice, VITA has created the composite shade guide that will help you choose the desired shade.
We will tell you how to choose the best composite shade with the VITA Classical shade guide. In addition, we'll give you the best tips for choosing the shade that best matches the surrounding teeth and reveal the secret to making shade selection a super easy task.
How can I choose the best composite shade with the VITA Classic Guide?
With the Classical VITA colour guide there are 16 shades ranging from A1-D4, and you'll be able to find the best shade for your dental restorations.
The classification allows you to find the shade closest to the tooth and then define the brightness.
1- Shade
The VITA guide colours are primarily organised by shades:
- Reddish-brownish: A1 - A2 - A3 - A3,5 - A4
- Reddish-yellowish : B1 - B2 - B3 - B4
- Greyish : C1 - C2 - C3 - C4
- Reddish-grey : D2 - D3 - D4
2- Brightness
Within these shades, either A, B, C or D, the shades are classified by a number from the lightest, 1, to the darkest and most intense, 4. Thus, a shade A1 will be a reddish-brown shade, just like shade A2, but the latter will be darker.
3- Choose the composite
Once the shade has been determined, you can use the dental composite of the defined shade. Many brands use the VITA classification system defined above. At Dentaltix, we particularly recommend the range of Tetric evoceram from Ivoclar Vivadent which offers very good quality composites with 16 VITA shades. Similarly, Gaenial composites offer a wide range of shades corresponding to VITA tones.
Go further: find the perfect composite shade with the Master 3D VITA guide.
After several statistical studies on the natural shades of patients' teeth, the VITA brand has improved its colour chart. They realized that the previous colour chart only covered some of the white shades actually found in patients and that some of the colours on the chart were not commonly found in patient's teeth.
To do this, VITA created the Master 3D Colour Guide with 26 shades and three colour selection steps: identify the brightness group, find the saturation level and then find the color.
1- Identify the brightness group
First of all, it is a question of identifying the brightness group. On the VITA 3D Master color chart, the brightnesses are classified from the lightest (group 0, corresponding to the bleach colours) to the darkest (group 5).
To do this, you can also use a black and white photo of the colour chart, this can make it easier for you to find the brightness group.
Let's give an example to explain the whole process. Imagine that we have identified that for the tooth we want to restore, the brightness group corresponds to group 2.
2- Find the Colour
Once the brightness group has been selected, the color must be identified. Of course, teeth can have a yellow or red color. This is identified by the letters L, M or R in the light categories.
- L corresponds to yellow
- M is neutral
- R corresponds to red
In our example, in group 2 we look at whether the tooth's shade is closer to one colour or the other. Having a slightly pinkish shade, the tooth will correspond to group R. Thus, we have identified Group 2 R.
3- Find the intensity level
The last step is to find the intensity level. Take out the intensities of the identified group. It's then a matter of checking the intensity from 1 to 3.
To take our previous composite example, we just have to choose the intensity among the references of this group: it will correspond to intensity 2 for example. The corresponding shade is therefore 2R2.
4- Which composite should I choose once the colour has been determined?
With the VITA Master 3D colour guide, you can now accurately determine the natural colour of your teeth. To then choose the best composite, the guide gives you the exact composition of the composites to be applied. Indeed, the guide provides a precise mathematical definition of tooth shades and gives you the opportunity of mixing them together.
View Vitapan 3D Master Colour Guide!
Tips to determine the color of the composite without equipment
Whatever your colour chart is, here are some tips to avoid skewing the colour selection:
- Make sure to perform the test under neutral light, ideally in daylight.
- Try and use a neutral environment, avoiding make-up, lipstick, and brightly coloured clothing.
- Choose quickly: in case of doubt, always prefer the first option because after 5 to 7 seconds, the eye gets tired.
- Perform this test before preparation because the color of the tooth after dehydrogenation becomes too white.
- Consider adjacent teeth and their color.
- Do not forget to disinfect the colour chart before and after each use.
VITA Easyshade® V Spectrophotometer
A spectrophotometer is an instrument that supports spectrophotometry to measure the amount of light intensity absorbed after passing through a sample solution.
VITA has developed the Easyshade® V Spectrophotometer which quickly, accurately and reliably detects the colour of both natural and ceramic teeth. In other words, Easyshade technology digitally determines the tooth colour. Here are the advantages of this device that will simplify the work of colour selection in your daily clinic work.
We will tell you now that with this instrument you will be able to plan whitening, choose the right composite for direct filling treatments of CAD/CAM and veneering materials, as well as prosthetic teeth.
Features of the VITA Easyshade® V Spectrophotometer:
- Determines the tooth colour accurately and quickly
- Indication of bleached shades according to the ADA standard.
- Ergonomic design and intuitive handling.
- It has a bright OLED touch screen.
- Long-lasting battery life
- Bluethooth interface for wireless communication, using VITA Assist PC software.
- Practical VITA Mobile Assist application.
VIDEO: How is the VITA Easyshade V spectrophotometer used?
That's it for our article on the selection of the vita shade guide. What did you think? Did you like our tips? Choosing the best composite shade with the VITA Classical shade chart is not easy, that's why we're giving you recommendations to make your treatments efficient and keep you updated on all the new devices that come on the market and help you to be more efficient every day.
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