Objectives: Dental shade matching is a complex procedure affected by various factors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shade taking ability of students in dental school. Methods: Sixty-five students of Harvard School of Dental Medicine were selected after using Nietz color vision deficiency test. Subjects were presented with the “shade tab – shade tab” matching task with three shade tabs – A1, B4, D4 and a VITAPAN Classical shade guide. They were also asked to select the most optimal shade match for the upper right central incisor of three patients; A with monotone color (simple case), B with a white line (moderate case) and C with severe gradation (difficult case). A spectrophotometer was used to calculate color difference between target shades and all shade guide tabs. The shade tab with the smallest dE value was considered the correct answer and shade tabs with dE less than 3.6 was considered the acceptable answers. Frequency of correct answer and acceptable answers were compared across samples and across the four class years. Results: Fifty-one percent of students selected the correct shade and above 82% them selected an acceptable shade. There was no significant difference across the class levels. Only 14% to 23% of the students selected the correct answer for the natural tooth color and 45% to 55% picked the acceptable answer. Although there was no significant difference across the class levels, there is a definite progression of higher rate of correct answers for patient C from year 1 to year 4. Conclusion: The shade selection was highly based on individual perceptual ability for simple and moderate cases. However, as in case of results for patient C, scientific education and prosthodontic knowledge of systematic shade selection becomes crucial for correct matching. (Supported by AADR Student Research Fellowship 2003-2004)

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