Purpose: Assessment of the predictability of tooth color coordinates according to the CIELab system to estimate the color of the maxillary central incisor based on patient age and gender.
Material and methods: The tooth color of one of the maxillary central incisors of 1361 Caucasian Spanish individuals aged 16 to 89 years, male and female, was measured using the Easyshade compact spectrophotometer. Color coordinates L*, C*, h*, a*, and b* were recorded according to age and gender.
Results: The results obtained show that differences in age account for 45% of the total variation of the L (lightness) coordinate; 21% of the variation in coordinate a*, and 17% of the variation in coordinate b* is due to the same reason. At a confidence level of 95% it may be proposed that the mean estimated color difference (ΔEab *) between real natural color and that predicted by the linear regression model is between 6.4 and 6.9 units.
Conclusions: In this sample of Caucasians from Spain, teeth became darker yellow and more reddish with increasing age. The L* coordinate is most strongly related to tooth color in aging.
Keywords: CIELab; Natural tooth color; maxillary central incisor; regression models.
© 2015 by the American College of Prosthodontists.