The effect of gender and clinical experience on shade perception.

OBJECTIVE: Shade matching is a critical procedure in prosthetic dentistry. The correct identification of the shade by the doctor as well as the perception of the shade by the dental technician becomes critical due to the high patient expectations. The current study aims to evaluate the effect of gender and clinical experience on shade perception by dental professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 dental professionals with normal color vision who were categorized as dental students, dental doctors, and dental specialists were included in the study. Masked A2 and B2 shades tabs were made to match with a complete set of shade guide. The obtained data were entered, coded, and analyzed using SPSS version 17 for Windows. RESULTS: Total number of participants who identified both shade tabs correctly was 44%. There were no statistically significant differences among the gender or the clinical experience with regard to correct identification of shade tabs. CONCLUSION: Within its limitations of fewer number (two) of shade tabs for comparison, the study concludes that multiple opinions may be taken clinically irrespective of the gender or clinical experience as gender and experience do not have a significant role to play for shade matching in prosthetic and restorative dentistry.

Preliminary impressions in microstomia patients: an innovative technique.

Microstomia has been defined as an abnormally small oral orifice associated with various etiopathologic factors. Management of these patients poses extreme difficulties in every procedure during prosthesis fabrication. Restricted mouth opening of the patient makes the insertion and the removal of the tray extremely difficult. So sectioning of the existing stock tray is necessary, so that the trays can be inserted and removed in sections. The main problem encountered during this procedure is the reorientation of the tray back in position. This article presents an innovative technique for the easy handling of the sectioned stock impression trays.