Shade selection practices amongst clinical dental students in South Western Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Objective: Shade selection is crucial in satisfying aesthetic demands of patients during cosmetic dental treatment. It is important to nurture and evaluate this act in students as future dental professionals. This study aimed to evaluate the understanding and practice of tooth shade matching amongst dental students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in South-Western Nigeria. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was given to clinical dental students to garner information on socio-demographics, knowledge and practice of shade selection. The resulting data were statistically tested using chi-square with p-value ≤ 0.05 indicating significant level. Results: There was 76.5% response rate to the questionnaires with the male subjects accounting for 52.3%. The mean age of participants was 24.2 ± 2.4 years. Majority (40.9%) did not know the ideal time required for shade selection. Most (57.9%) students used visual/manual method in shade selection but 63.6% of these did not know the name of the shade guide used. Majority (80.8%) select the shade before commencing restorative procedure. Less than half (36.4%) of participants performed tooth shade matching in 3 segments (from incisal-third to cervical-third) while 54.5% considered tooth shade as a single uniform colour. Most students, 67.4% had a fair knowledge of shade matching while 13.6% practiced good shade matching technique for restorations/prosthesis. There was a statistically significant difference (p=0.022) between shade selection practice and the clinical training levels of students. Conclusion: The dental students had a fair knowledge about the principles of shade selection but lack the clinical know-how