Title: Designing a Model Dental Shade Guide for Pediatric Population

Purpose: Large disparities in color ranges and distribution between primary and permanent teeth makes shade guides for permanent teeth unsuitable for primary teeth applications. The aim of the study was to develop a model shade guide for primary teeth.

Methods: The Vita Easyshade intraoral spectrophotometer was used to determine color at the middle labial/buccal third surface of 612 primary teeth of 102 patients. Model shade guides, containing 1-16 tabs, were designed in CIELAB (DE*) and CIEDE2000 (DE') color notation systems using nonlinear optimization. The coverage error (DE_COV) was calculated as the mean of minimal color differences between each of primary teeth and the “closest” shade tab. Results were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Results: The coverage error of Vitapan Classical shade guide applied to the evaluated primary teeth was 4.2 (s.d. 1.8). DE*_COV and DE'_COV values for model shade guides with 16 tabs were 1.8 and 1.3, respectively. The CIELAB coverage error of the model shade guide containing two tabs outperformed DE*_COV of Vitapan Classical.

Conclusions: Vitapan Classical shade guide did not match primary teeth optimally. Significantly smaller coverage error was obtained in the model shade guide with the same number of tabs, designed via constrained nonlinear optimization.