COLOR ANALYSIS OF THE NATURAL TEETH WITH A MODIFIED INTRAORAL SPECTROPHOTOMETER

구내용 분광광도계를 이용한 자연치의 색상분석

The recognition of the esthetics as well as their function of the teeth in the dental field is growing. Evaluating the esthetics of a tooth concerns shape, texture, and color. And among these, color has been the most difficult element to make natural expression. Color is a very subjective element affected by many different factor like light source, object, observer. Numerous efforts to quantifying color has been made. Currently the use of colorimeter and spectrophotometercolor that the color measuring device has been suggested. In this study, the normal range of the tooth color in canines, lateral incisors and central incisors for Koreans was evaluated with a modified spectrophotometer for intraoral use. The color differences in terms of teeth positions, age and area within the tooth was evaluated and comparatively analyzed. Results were as follow ; 1. In all age groups, the central incisors are most bright and least yellowish opposit to the canines are most dark and yellowish. The central incisors and lateral incisors showed the similar color patterns. 2. In the comparison between gender, it showed that in the 10' s group male have more yellowish, the 20's female have lighter and more redness, the 30's indicated more redness in female and in the 40's the lightness is more in female. 3. With aging, there was no significant change in $L^*$ and $a^*$ coordinates but a shift was in $b^*$ to yellowish in the 30' sand 40's in central incisors. Lateral incisors and canines showed a lighter and more yellowish tooth color with an irregular change of color coordinate in $a^*$. 4. In all teeth the middle and cervical portion showed close correlation with over 0.7(0.05>p) but color ($a^*$, $b^*$) showed higher correlation than lightness($L^*$). 5. It has been shown that through the regression test the cervical color could be calculated by the middle color value.