Shade Guides at Dandy

Tooth Shade Areas

Understanding the different shading areas on a tooth is critical for accurate restoration
matching.

• Base: The most obvious area. This represents the middle portion of the tooth, or the
  entire tooth if no other specific shades are selected.
• Gingival (Cervical): The area closest to the gum line, making up approximately 1⁄3 of the
  tooth. It is typically the darkest of the facial shades.
• Incisal (Occlusal): The area of the tooth furthest from the gum, also comprising about 1⁄3
  of the tooth.

The Stump Shade

The "stump" refers to the internal part of the tooth (the prepared tooth), consisting of the dentin
left after the enamel is removed. Laboratories must compensate for a dark stump shade when
manufacturing a crown; however, depending on the material and outer shades, it may affect the
final aesthetic.

Recommendation: Avoid using a translucent material when there is a dark stump shade paired
with a light base shade.

Primary Shade Systems

Vita Classical

Debuted in 1983 as the first uniform shade standard, this widely used guide groups similar hues
by letter and chroma by numerical values.
Hue Group (Letter) Colour Spectrum

• A Reddish-brown
• B Reddish-yellowish
• C Grey
• D Reddish-grey

Chroma: Denoted by numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.), representing the intensity of the colour. A higher
chroma number does not universally mean a darker colour across different letter groups (e.g., by
value, D4 is lighter than A3). Shades are not uniformly spaced in intensity or value.

VITA 3D Master & Linearguide Slides

Introduced in 1998, the VITA 3D Master system allows for systematic reproduction of 26 natural
tooth shades. The key advantage over VITA Classical is the uniform spacing of Lightness
(z-axis), Chroma (x-axis), and Hue (y-axis).

• Format: Each shade number represents Lightness, Hue, and Saturation, respectively.
• Hue Indicators: 'L' represents the yellowish end of the spectrum, while 'R' represents the
  reddish end.