Influence of background color on color perception in dentistry

Juliana A Medeiros; Oscar E Pecho; María M Pérez; Francisco Carrillo-Pérez; Luis Javier Herrera; Alvaro Della Bona

doi:10.1016/j.jdent.2021.103640

Influence of background color on color perception in dentistry

J Dent. 2021 May:108:103640. doi: 10.1016/j.jdent.2021.103640. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Authors

Juliana A Medeiros¹, Oscar E Pecho¹, María M Pérez², Francisco Carrillo-Pérez³, Luis Javier Herrera³, Alvaro Della Bona⁴

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Dental School, University of Passo Fundo, Campus I, Passo Fundo, Brazil.
² Department of Optics, Faculty of Science, University of Granada, Campus Fuente Nueva, Edificio Mecenas, s/n 18071, Granada, Spain.
³ Department of Computer Architecture and Computer Technology, E.T.S.I.I.T., University of Granada, s/n 18071, Granada, Spain.
⁴ Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Dental School, University of Passo Fundo, Campus I, Passo Fundo, Brazil. Electronic address: dbona@upf.br.

PMID: 33757865
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdent.2021.103640

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the influence of neutral color backgrounds on the perception of color differences in dentistry.

Methods: A software was developed for this study that calculated the perceptibility (PT) and acceptability (AT) thresholds of color differences between a pair of computer-simulated incisor samples (n = 60 pairs) over three neutral color (white, gray and black) backgrounds. CIELAB and CIEDE2000 color difference formulas were used. Five groups of volunteer observers (N = 100) participated in the psychophysical experiment (n = 20): Dentists; Dental students; Dental auxiliaries; Dental technicians; and Laypersons. The psychophysical experiment was performed in a dark environment on a calibrated high-resolution screen. To determine PT and AT values, the 60 pairs of samples were randomly presented to each observer over the different backgrounds. The data were adjusted (TSK Fuzzy) and analyzed statistically using Student t-test and ANOVA (α = 0.05).

Results: Regardless of the metric and the background used, the PT values showed no difference among different observers (p > 0.05). Dentists showed the lowest PT values. Dental technicians showed the lowest AT (p ≤ 0.05) and similar values for the three backgrounds (p > 0.05), regardless of the metric used. The other groups of observers showed the lowest and the highest AT values when using black and white backgrounds, respectively (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusions: The lowest AT values using a black background indicates that the use of this background allows for the evaluation of slight color differences, and should be used for challenging color differences in esthetic dentistry. This study showed the influence of the observer experience on color evaluation in dentistry.

Clinical significance: There was no influence of the background color on the perceptibility threshold. However, dentists and dental technicians showed greater ability to perceive slight color differences compared to other groups of observers.

Keywords: Acceptability threshold; Color differences; Color perception; Dentistry; Perceptibility threshold.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Color
Color Perception*
Esthetics, Dental*
Humans
Incisor