Recent years have seen an increasing demand for cosmetic and reconstructive dentistry. Technical aspect for this type of dental treatment requires determination of surrounding tooth colour, proper selection of materials, and colour consistency under all types of lighting. These steps were so far done on a subjective basis since no scientific methodology was available.
Colour metamerism, which is a feature of human vision, makes it difficult to match colour under
different lighting conditions. For e.g. the mixture of pigments used for an artificial tooth look
natural under an incandescent light, yet may look quite unnatural in daylight.
The patented Dental Colour Analyzer (Wolf Industries Inc. USA) was developed to assist the
dental professionals by determining the shades and colour of dental materials used in restorative
work and precisely matching these shades to the patient’s original teeth.
Dental Colour Analyzer is designed to discriminate between the most minute differences in the
tooth colour and determine the best match for patient. The device takes account for metamerism
i.e. differences in colour perception of specially unmatched materials when illuminated with
different light sources such as sunlight, fluorescent lamps, and incandescent lamps.
The device can be equipped with a serial port to allow patient’s colour data to be transferred to
a personal computer for electronic filing with other patient records.
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