To assess the pattern of tooth shade for removable partial denture prostheses

Abstract

Introduction- Proper shade selection has a positive impact on patient’s perception of aesthetics and acceptance of their dentures. The ultimate objective of aesthetics is to create a beautiful smile. Proper shade selection has been shown to positively impact on patients’ perception of aesthetics and improve acceptance of a prosthesis.

Objective: To assess the pattern of tooth shade for removable partial denture prostheses.

Method: This was a retrospective study of patients who received removable partial denture over a 5 years period. The shade of the prosthetic teeth that was provided and tooth replaced were the data of interest retrieved for the study. Shade assessment was carried out by means of visual shade assessment. The Vita shade guide was the instrument used for the shade assessment. Shade for the missing tooth/teeth was done by assessing either the contralateral tooth or adjacent tooth where applicable. The data obtained was analysed using IBM SPSS version 21.0. Descriptive statistics in form of frequency, cross tabulation as well as chi square were used to analyse the data.

Results: -A total of 700 patient records were retrieved. There was a higher proportion of females (51%) compared to males with a male female ratio of 1:1.06.  The age of the patients who received removable partial dentures ranged from 8years to 99years with a mean age of 43.66 ± 17.87 years. The age group most represented was the 21-40 years (42.1%) and the least was ≤ 20 years (7.3%).

The teeth most frequently replaced were the incisors accounting for 79%. Most (68%) of the teeth replaced were in the maxillary arch. The most prevalent prosthetic tooth shade provided for the patients was A3 accounting for 54.2%. The shade A2 reduced with increasing age, with subjects’ ≤ 20 years accounting for 62.1%, while shade A3 and A4 increased with increasing age, this was statistically significant with p=0.0001. The females had higher (57.6%) shade of A2 compared to the males who had higher (51.2% and 56.3%) shades of A3 and A4 respectively, this was found to be statistically significant with p=0.025.

Conclusion: The tooth shades were found to vary with age and sex, with the lighter shades found among the younger age groups and the female gender