Interdependence of the hue, value, and chroma in the middle site of anterior human teeth.

PURPOSE

This study examines how the color coordinates of human teeth are related to each other and describes a mathematical relationship between Hue, Value, and Chroma of the middle site of anterior teeth.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The color coordinates obtained from a previous instrumental survey of the colors of vital teeth (see Goodkind and Schwabacher) were examined statistically, and equations were sought to describe their distribution in color space. The resulting single equation was applied to the colors of 100 extracted teeth.

RESULTS

Correlations between Hue, Value, and Chroma were not significant for incisal and cervical sites. For the middle site, these Munsell color coordinates were highly correlated and closely confined to a planar region of the color space, described by a single equation.

CONCLUSIONS

Human tooth color distribution seems to be relatively simple, at least for the middle site. It seems possible that a systematic method of shade selection (see Goodkind and Loupe) can be made available.