- 1Take the shade first — before prolonged isolation, drying or any procedure that dehydrates the tooth; dehydration raises lightness and lowers chroma and the change is visible within the first minute.
TIP · Record the shade within the first minute and before the tooth dehydrates under isolation: colour shifts beyond the perceptibility threshold within one minute of drying, and teeth do not re-hydrate within 15 minutes — so shade-taking belongs at the very start of the appointment.
- 2Clean the target tooth (remove plaque, surface stain, debris) and keep it moist; perform any polishing before, not after, assessing colour.
- 3Set the conditions — daylight-corrected light (~5500 K, high CRI), a neutral mid-grey surround, patient upright with the tooth at eye level; remove bright lip colour and strongly coloured items from view.
TIP · Standardise the viewing conditions: a light-correcting / daylight device produced the most reliable visual match in a clinical comparison, whereas the same guide used without it was the least reliable method tested.
- 4Match with VITA Classical (A1–D4): first identify hue (A–D) group, then select value/chroma within it; hold the tab edge-to-edge against the tooth in the same plane.
TIP · With VITA Classical, work by hue group then value/chroma; combined with controlled conditions and an instrument set to the Classical scale it gave one of the closest matches to experienced visual perception.
- 5Cross-check with VITA 3D-Master: select value (lightness, group 0–5) first, then chroma, then hue; it samples colour space more evenly and tends to be more repeatable on re-measurement.
TIP · With VITA 3D-Master, choose value first, then chroma, then hue; it samples colour space more systematically and showed more consistent (repeatable) results on repeated shade selection.
- 6Use short glances of ~5 seconds against the grey field, resting the eyes on grey between looks; decide quickly to avoid both retinal fatigue and tooth dehydration.
TIP · Visual matching is intrinsically inconsistent — intra- and inter-rater agreement is only moderate — so decide with brief glances and verify rather than relying on a single prolonged look.
- 7Confirm instrumentally — take a spectrophotometer/colorimeter reading (e.g. VITA Easyshade); repeat to check it agrees, and use it to supplement, not overrule, an experienced visual match.
TIP · A dental spectrophotometer is markedly more repeatable than the eye and is the most accurate, reliable method reported, but instrumental determination should accompany — not replace — experienced visual assessment.
- 8Map the tooth by thirds — record cervical, middle and incisal shades separately, plus translucency, characterisations and any notes for the laboratory.
- 9Photograph the tooth with the chosen tab(s) in the same frame (ideally cross-polarised) and record the guide used, the shade(s) and the conditions in the notes.