Color Measurements

By

Rasha Mohamed Abd-El-Raouf

Assistant Professor, Biomaterials Department

Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine

Cairo University
Introduction:

Esthetics is the sense of perception, judgment and taste concerning

beauty. It is one of the primary motivating factors for patients to seek dental
care. Knowledge of esthetic principles helps the dentist achieve a
successful prosthodontic restoration which provides, in addition to an
excellent long-term function, a beautiful smile (1, 2, 3).

An improved dentofacial appearance is believed to positively influence

the general attractiveness. Several studies on eye movements show that the
perception of a face involves a triangular scanning pattern, with the main
emphasis being focused on the eyes, nose and mouth. Therefore, it could
be inferred that the mouth and thus the teeth play an important role in the
determination of attractiveness. Thus, correction of dental esthetic
problems has a positive effect on self-esteem (2, 4).

Color is considered one of the most important determinants of esthetics

in dentistry. Moreover, color is a basic criterion according to which dental
materials are classified as esthetic or unesthetic. Unfortunately, color
reproduction presents a relatively complex task, unlike the other essential
determinants of esthetics (shape, size, and position of a tooth) which are
easier to harmonize with the remaining natural teeth. Improper color of a
restoration is frustrating to the patient as well as to the dentist (5).

Understanding color requires learning its language (6). Thus, proper color
matching depends on thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of color
and the factors affecting color perception. These factors includes mainly:
the spectral energy distribution of the light source, the spectral

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characteristics of the object, the viewing condition and the sensitivity of
the visual apparatus (7).

By studying the structure of the eye, it is reported that, among all

wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum, the human eye is only
sensitive to the wavelengths in the range of 380-750 nm. The retina of the
eye has two types of receptors: cones and rods. The cones, the mediators
of color vision, are located in or immediately adjacent to the fovea .They
function only at higher light levels. There are three kinds of cones each
containing a different photopigment and is maximally sensitive to a
specific color: the blue or short-wave sensitive "S-cone", the green or
medium-wave sensitive "M-cone", and the red or long-wave sensitive "L-
cone". On the other hand, the rods cannot provide information about color
but they perceive brightness i.e. black and white vision. Signals from the
eye are transmitted by the neural pathways to the visual cortex in the brain,
where the sensation of color is experienced (2, 8).

The perception of an object's color is the result of a psycho-

physiological response to a reflected or transmitted beam of white light, or
even a portion of that beam. Isaac Newton, who made the first break-
through in understanding the physics of color, found that a beam of white
light could be split into component colors, or wavelengths, by passing it
through a prism. Newton described the resulting continuous series of colors
as a spectrum and named these colors in the following order: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (8, 9).

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Color Mixing:

Each color has a complementary color, which when properly mixed with
it, produces a sensation of white. Black is the sensation produced by the
absence of light. Unlike what many people think, black is considered a
positive sensation because the blind eye does not "see black" but it sees
"nothing". The sensation of white, any spectral color and even any
extraspecular color can be produced by mixing various proportions of red,
green and blue lights. Therefore, red, green and blue are called the
"additive primary colors". Results obtained when mixing additive colors
are confusing for most people. They are accustomed to the more everyday
subtractive color mixing of pigments, dyes, inks and other substances
which present color to the eye by reflection rather than emission. Thus,
while working with pigments we are dealing with subtractive color mixing,
where cyan, magenta and yellow are called "subtractive primary colors" (9).

Color order systems:

Attempting to communicate colors to somebody else constitutes a major

problem. Thus, a number of color order systems had been developed as
Munsell color order system and CIE L*a*b* system (Commission
Internationale de l’E´clairage).

Munsell color order system, figure 1, describes color in terms of three

dimensions; hue, chroma and value. Hue describes the dominant color of
an object, for example, red, green or blue. This refers to the dominant
wavelength presented in the spectral distribution. Chroma represents the
degree of saturation of a particular hue. In other words, the higher the
chroma, the more intense the color is. Value, which identifies the lightness
or darkness of a color, can be measured independently from the hue. Value
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is considered the most highly recognizable characteristic in dental color
matching. In Munsell color order system, the color is defined by one polar
coordinate (hue) and one linear, or Cartesian, coordinate (chroma), while
the value is plotted in the vertical axis (2, 7, 10).

Value ranges from white (10/ ) to black (0/ ), while chroma ranges from
achromatic ( /0) to a highly saturated color ( /18). Meanwhile, hue is
measured on a scale from 2.5 to 10 increments of 2.5 for each of the 10
color families (red, yellow-red, yellow, green-yellow, green, blue-green,
blue, purple-blue, purple, red-purple). For example, the color of the
attached gingiva of a healthy patient has been measured as 5R 6/4 to
indicate a hue of 5R, a value of 6 and a chroma of 4 (11).

Figure (1): Munsell color order system

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 Meanwhile, CIE L*a*b* system, figure 2, has three axes L*, a* and
b*. L* measures the lightness and is quantified on a scale, such that a
perfect black has L* value of zero and a perfect white has L* value of 100.
While, a* measures redness (+a*) or greenness (-a*). The b* measures
yellowness (+b*) or blueness (-b*). The coordinates a* and b* approach
zero for neutral colors, and increase in magnitude for more saturated or
intense colors. In CIE lab, both coordinates (a* and b*) are Cartesian
(linear), so CIE lab coordinates define the color space in approximately
uniform steps. L*, corresponding to the value in the Munsell color order
system, is plotted in the vertical axis (2, 12).

If two points in the L*a*b* color space, representing two measurements,

are coincident, the color difference between them will be zero. As the
distance in color space between the two points increases, the perceived
color difference between the stimuli, represented by these two points,
increases. One common measure of color difference “ΔE” between two
points in the three dimensional color space is calculated as follows: ∆E =
[(∆L*) 2 + (∆a*) 2 + (∆b*) 2]1/2
The term "E" is derived from the German word "Empfindung" which meant
"sensation". Therefore, ΔE literally denotes difference in sensation.

Figure (2): CIE L*a*b* color order system

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 The CIE L*C*h* system, figure 3, is a polar coordinate representation
of the L*a*b* color space. In any horizontal color plane in the L*a*b*
color space. C (or Chroma) is measured as the distance from the vertical
(neutral or gray) axis, and h (or Hue) is the angle of displacement as
measured from the red/green axis. This is shown in the color plane below,
which is a horizontal slice (a region of constant L) from CIE La*b* system.

The axes for the L*C*h* color space are the same as for the L*a*b*
color space. The difference between the systems is that the L*C*h* color
space uses polar coordinates, while the L*a*b* color space uses Cartesian
coordinates.

Figure (3): Chroma (C) and Hue (h) in CIE L*C*h* system

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The CIE system and key elements of color perception:

The CIE system standardizes three key elements of color perception,

namely illuminant, geometry of illumination and viewing, and observer.

1- Standard illuminant:

It is important to understand the terms "light source and illuminant".

Light source is a general term for an emitter of visible electromagnetic
radiation, such as the sun, a candle or incandescent bulb. Since the
perceived color of some objects changes with different light sources,
specifying the color of an object requires that the light source be defined.
An illuminant is a specification of a particular light source. In 1931, the
CIE described three standard illuminants, known as A, B and C,
representing incandescent light, direct sunlight and average daylight, at the
color temperatures of about 2856, 4874 and 6774 K respectively. In 1964,
the CIE described a series of D illuminants known as D55, D65 at the color
temperature of about 5,500 and 6,500 K respectively. The most widely
used D illuminants are D65 which is close to average northern sky daylight.
A light source can be quantified by measuring its spectral power
distribution (SPD), figure 4, a function of wavelength across the visible
spectrum.

Figure (4): Spectral power distribution

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2- Standard illuminating and viewing geometries:

CIE has recommended four types of illumination and viewing

geometries for reflectance measurement:

(a)-Normal/diffuse (0/d)

(b)-Diffuse/normal (d/0)

(c)-45º/normal (45/0)

(d)-Normal/45º (0/45)

Figure (5): Scheme of the four CIE standard illuminating and viewing
geometries

In the 0/d geometry, measured color sample is illuminated from an angle

near the normal and the reflected energy is collected from all angles using
an integrating sphere (a hollow sphere which is painted white inside). In
the d/0 geometry, the sample is illuminated from all angles using an
integrating sphere and viewed at an angle near the normal to the surface.

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These two geometries are optical reverses of each other and therefore
produce the same measurement results, assuming all other instrumental
variables are constant.

In the 45/0 geometry, the sample is illuminated with one or more beams
of light, incident at an angle of about 45º and measurements are made along
the normal. In the 0/45 geometry, the sample is illuminated normal to its
surface and measurements are made using one or more beams at about 45º.

3- Standard observer:

The L*a*b* and L*C*h* systems are both based upon a model for
human color perception (an observer) that was published in 1931 by the
CIE, figure 6, and updated in 1964. For color to be measured and reported
on a device-independent basis, the perceptual characteristics of the
observer must be defined. Depending on the relative size of the area being
viewed, the perception of color can change slightly. In 1931 the CIE
defined color matching functions for a 2º field of view (the 2º observer)
and in 1964 they published color matching functions for a 10° field of view
(the 10º observer).

Figure (6): The 2º standard observer

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Chromaticity Diagram, figure 7:

Based on the fact that the human eye has three different types of color
sensitive cones (red, green, blue), the response of the eye is best described
in terms of three "tristimulus values" (X, Y, Z respectively). However, it is
found that any color can be expressed in terms of the two color coordinates

x and y (where ). Thus, the CIE system characterizes

colors by two color coordinates x and y which specify the point on the
chromaticity diagram and by a luminance parameter Y.

Figure (7): The chromaticity diagram

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Color perceptibility and acceptability thresholds:
The mere determination of a color difference between two specimens is
of little clinical value without an understanding of the magnitude of color
difference that is visually detectable (perceptibility threshold) and the
magnitude of difference that constitutes an unacceptable limit to dental
esthetics (acceptability threshold).

(13)
Regarding color perceptibility, Kuehni and Marcus (1979)
calculated the perceptibility threshold using opaque textile specimens and
matte paints. ∆E was 1.0 when 50% of observers perceived color
difference. Another in vitro study by Seghi RR et al (1989) (14), using
porcelain specimens, showed that ∆E was 2.0 when porcelain specimens
were correctly judged by observers 100% of the time. Johnston and Kao,
(15)
(1989) conducted in vivo study using composite resin veneer
restorations compared to the adjacent or contralateral tooth. ∆E was up to
3.7, when the color difference was considered as perfect match in oral
environment. Finally, Douglas RD et al (2007) (16) used test denture with
interchangeable teeth in fully edentulous patient s mouth. ∆E was 2.6
when 50% of observers perceived color difference.

Regarding color acceptability, Ruyter IE et al (1987) (17) measured color

acceptability threshold using composite resin specimens .It was stated that
∆E was 3.3 when 50% of observers considered composite specimens to be
(18)
unacceptable. Douglas and Brewer (1998) , using metal-ceramic
crowns in vitro, reported that ∆E was 1.7 when 50% of observers rejected
the shade match for the crowns. Ragain and Johnston, (2000) (19), using
composite resin specimens, determined that ∆E = 2.7, when 50% of
observers would replace the composite specimens due to mismatch. On the
other hand, Johnston and Kao (1989) (15) performed an in vivo study using

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composite resin veneer restorations compared to the adjacent or
contralateral teeth. ∆E was 6.8 when color difference between the
compared teeth was considered as mismatch in oral environment. Finally,
Douglas RD et al (2007) (16) used test denture with interchangeable teeth
in fully edentulous patient s mouth. At ∆E=5.5, 50% of observers would
remake the restoration due to mismatch.

It could be seen that there is a wide variation in the color perceptibility

and acceptability thresholds which might be due to the different
methodologies used. Thus, understanding fundamentals of color is a must
for proper color reproduction in all esthetic dental restorations.

Color reproduction:

Color reproduction is achieved through two phases, shade selection and

shade duplication. The first phase is the shade selection which is
accomplished by the dentist either visually or instrumentally. The second
phase is the duplication of the selected shade (2).

Both the terms "shade" and "color" are used interchangeably in dental
literature. The term "shade" literally means "the absence of the complete
illumination". Thus, the term "color" is considered more appropriate and
descriptive. However, most dental professionals are more adopted by the
instead of the former term (6).

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Shade selection (Color matching):

a- Visual shade selection:

The visual technique, where the dentist compares the tooth with
standard color tooth shade guides, is the most frequently applied method
in dentistry as it is cost-effective (12).

Various shade guides have been developed since 1908 to be used in

visual shade selection. Most of these types rely mainly on variability in hue
and chroma without determining the value. In 1998, Vitapan 3D- master
shade guide has been introduced, which is based on value selection at first
followed by hue and chroma (20).

However, this visual color perception may vary from one individual to
another and might even vary for the same individual if the color is
measured several times. Because of the complexity of factors affecting the
individual color perception, visual shade selection is considered to be
subjective. To avoid these factors, instrumental techniques have been
introduced for standardizing shade selection and communication in
dentistry (21, 22).

b- Instrumental shade selection:

There are four types of color measuring instruments: tristimulus

colorimeters, spectroradiometers, spectrophotometers, and digital cameras.
Different instruments could have quite different arrangements of optical
elements depending on the types of instruments and the objects to be
measured. The optical elements are light source, integrating sphere, wave-
length selection device, and photoreceptor.

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 The most common color measuring instruments in dentistry are
colorimeter and spectrophotometer, figures 8,9. The main difference
between spectrophotometers and colorimeters is that spectrophotometers
measure the reflectance of light within the entire visible spectrum, whereas
colorimeters evaluate the reflected light only through three wavelength
ranges; red, green and blue (23).

Figure (8): Coloroimeter Figure (9): Spectrophotometer

Unfortunately, some of these instruments also have disadvantages.

"Edge loss" errors occur when measuring translucent specimens because
both the illumination and the color measurement make through the same
small window in these instruments. Thus, a considerable portion of the
light entering the specimen is lost through translucency and scattering and
never returns to the sensor for measurement (2). Moreover, most of these
instruments are designed to measure flat surfaces, while teeth are often not
flat, in addition to their high cost. However, most of these problems are
overcome by some new instruments (9, 12).

An important consideration of these instruments is their ability to

measure tooth color accurately and precisely. The capability of an
instrument to reproduce the specified standard values measures its
accuracy and is expressed as a deviation from an accepted reference level.
Inaccurate measurements are primarily associated with the existence of

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systematic errors such as photometric scale errors, wavelength errors and
geometrical errors (23).

Precision is the capability of an instrument to give the same results

repeatedly and is divided into repeatability and reproducibility. The
closeness of agreement of measurements for a defined measuring
procedure is repeatability, while the ability to obtain the same agreement
when one of the conditions changed is reproducibility. Repeatability is
typically evaluated over three-time patterns: short-term, based on
measurements made in succession; medium-term, based on measurements
made over a period of hours; and long-term, based on measurements made
over weeks or longer. Lack of precision is mainly due to random errors
caused by interference of the environment with the measurement process
(23)
.

Reliability is the ratio of the True variance to the Total variance (True
plus Error), where the True variance is an index of differences between
people, whereas the Error variance is equivalent to measurement error.
With a situation in which precision may be high but reliability low (under
conditions of restriction in range) or vice versa (when there was wide
variability in scores across people), precision is not a synonym for
reliability, but only one component of it (24).

Three main principles were documented in the dental literature dealing

with the instrumental technique: the determination of agreement between
(25-27)
the instrumental and the visual shade selections , the clinical
effectiveness of the shades selected by the instrumental technique
compared to those selected by the visual technique (28-31) and the evaluation
of the reliability and accuracy of these instruments (32-41).

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 The advanced technology makes the instrumental method the technique
of choice for clinical and research based shade selection, as well as for
verifying the duplicated shade of the restorations. However, the visual
shade selection is still a common method and the combination of both
techniques may be beneficial.

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