A comparative study of shade-matching performance using intraoral scanner, spectrophotometer, and visual assessment

This study aimed to explore the clinical applicability of the shade-matching function in intraoral scanners. This study measured the tooth colors of maxillary anterior dentitions of 83 adults using visual matching, a spectrophotometer, and a scanner according to two color systems: VITA Classical (VC) and VITA 3D-Master (V3D). Agreement between each method was assessed by weighted Cohen's kappa coefficient (K_W, α = 0.05). For V3D, the overall agreement between the scanner and spectrophotometer (K_W = 0.498) was higher than that between the scanner and visual matching (K_W = 0.473). Similarly, the agreement between the scanner and spectrophotometer (K_W = 0.283) was higher than that between a scanner and visual matching (K_W = 0.140) for VC. Regarding tooth position, the highest agreement between the scanner and spectrophotometer was observed on the right central incisor (K_W = 0.542) for V3D. Tooth color measurement with a scanner was comparable to that with a spectrophotometer, especially on the central incisors when using the VITA 3D-Master system. A scanner could serve as an alternative to a spectrophotometer for shade selection. However, color matching should still be visually verified.