welcome and good evening, it's friday, 24th of may

shade taking / colour matching

For a good aesthetic result, management of the teeth's colour is vital. This is achieved through a combination of:

Selection of a suitable colour for the new teeth. This will usually be lighter than the patients' current colour, to provide aesthetic improvement. However, a "brilliant white" is rarely the best choice. We will assist in colour matching
Whitening of the patient's own natural teeth to match the new teeth

A shade is a 3 dimensional colour by number map interpreting existing teeth and soft tissues to be copied good crown matching ceases when the original dentition darkens over time

colour management is whitening teeth before replacement, copying the crowns to the new whitened shade
future topping up will keep colour differences at bay

icc dental - experts in shading and colour matching

This is an area of expertise for us and vital to the result. We follow a process as follows:

shade taking

This is communicating the colour of the tooth or teeth and tissues to be made in the context of future treatment plans and is based upon:-

the patient's perception of colour and shape
the dentist's direction
the shade taker's perception
all in one millisecond of light influenced by the immediate environment

This provides a clear map for the technician to interpret.

Shade guide

(a) correct shade guide

Vita 3-D™ shade guides give a true value of the tooth in photographs
colour adjustments will only be chromatic avoiding remaking

(b) shades of:-

surrounding teeth
core
map of non-vital teeth
gingiva

(c) photographs of:-

before
full face, profile, lips retracted, the smile with prototypes in situ showing incisal silhouettes and contrasts
Vita 3-D™ shade tabs and soft tissue tabs in the photographs or clearly written

Digital photography has replaced film because it is cheap, quick, instant and images can be enlarged and enhanced on a computer. Dentists are advised to choose a camera with

quick successive photo rate
takes 19 out of 20 shots in focus
minimum 3 million pixels; more pixels will allow more distance from the subject, giving increased light in the mouth so improving focussing - cropped images become more detailed
good flash intensity and direction
a tripod if using macro, with the patient's static
the background should be neutral grey so as not to influence the surrounding light

(d) shade taking equipment

shade taking equipment measure in varying ways

some are spectrophotometers (they have 32 filters and do not catch all of the data as they only measure every 10 nanometers along the visible spectrum)
some are colourimeters (they measure 90,000 nanometers along the visible spectrum) e.g Shade Vision™ which we use - it also draws from three colour databases for each tooth

teeth shades

(e) treatment plans

the patient is consulted on whether they like the appearance of their existing teeth and how they would like their new ones to look
the long term objectives and desires of the patient are discussed
the patient's smile line and position of facial features are noted
a denture teeth selection chart can be used to decide on the shape of the teeth

contact us!

For further information, to request an appointment or discuss working with our lab, please leave your details and we'll be in touch soon.

You can also call us on 01285 821220.

We offer a complimentary initial consultation!

Your Name *
Email Address *
Phone Number *
Your questions or comments *
Your verification code
Please enter verification code below *