An evaluation of factors affecting dental shade matching in first-year dental students.

Statement Of Problem: Shade selection has become more important and challenging as it becomes more emphasized in esthetic dentistry. It would be beneficial to screen dental students early in their predoctoral education for any deficiencies in color discrimination. Specific tests that reliably predict dental shade-matching ability have not been fully established.

Perceptual ability tests correlate to performance on a rudimentary dental anatomy laboratory exercise.

Purpose: Objective of this study was to determine if perceptual abilities test (PAT), quantitative reasoning (QR), and academic average (AA) scores predict performance in a rudimentary dental anatomy laboratory exercise.

Methods: First-year dental students (n = 88) completed two identical wax carving exercises during the first and last weeks of the dental anatomy course. After being given detailed instructions and a wax block, students carved a cube and a semilunar shape using the wax subtraction technique.

Dental Shade Matching and Value Discernment Abilities of First-Year Dental Students.

Purpose: To determine if Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test, Perceptual Ability Test, gender, age, ethnicity, and time predict dental shade matching and value discernment in first-year dental students.

Materials And Methods: Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test was administered to 95 first-year-dental students beneath a Judge II booth (color temperature of 6500°K, and color rendering index of 90). Students also arranged 16 masked shade tabs from a Vita Classic shade guide by value (lightest to darkest) and matched together 16 pairs of masked shade tabs from two Vita Classic shade guides.