Color Compatibility of Gingival Shade Guides and Gingiva-Colored Dental Materials with Healthy Human Gingiva.

The CIELab and CIEDE2000 coverage error (ΔE* and ΔE', respectively) of basic shades of different gingival shade guides and gingiva-colored restorative dental materials (n = 5) was calculated as compared to a previously compiled database on healthy human gingiva. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with Tukey-Kramer multiple-comparison test (P < .05). A 50:50% acceptability threshold of 4.6 for ΔE* and 4.1 for ΔE' was used to interpret the results. ΔE* / ΔE' ranged from 4.4/3.5 to 8.6/6.9. The majority of gingival shade guides and gingiva-colored restorative materials exhibited statistically significant coverage errors above the 50:50% acceptability threshold and uneven shade distribution.