Identifying and communicating the shades of a patient’s teeth is a key part of restorative dental care. Matching the restoration to the surrounding dentition lets the crown, bridge or veneer look natural.
Use a standard shade guide
Most shade guides contain tabs representing the shades of a standardized system. Hold the tabs up to the patient’s teeth to find the closest match, and write the shade on the Rx form.
Send a photo with the shade tab
The most helpful thing you can send us is a photo of the selected shade tab held next to the tooth, taken in natural light. It lets our technicians see value, translucency and any characterization that a single shade code cannot describe.
Shade tabs help with patients too
Shade tabs are also useful for discussing stains and whitening with patients before restorative treatment.
This article provides general information. Clinical decisions should be based on each patient’s condition and the treating dentist’s professional judgment.