Evaluation of Shade Selection Precision Utilizing Smartphones among Clinical Dental Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Accurate shade selection is essential for achieving optimal esthetic outcomes in restorative dentistry.
With the increasing availability of smartphone technology, its use as an adjunct for shade selection warrants
evaluation, particularly in academic and resource-limited settings. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy
of smartphone-based shade selection, with and without flash, in comparison with the conventional visual method
among clinical dental students and interns. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among
102 female dental students in their 5th and 6th years and dental interns. Participants assessed the A3 shade from the
VITA Classical shade guide under three conditions: Visual assessment in natural daylight, smartphone photography
with flash, and smartphone photography without flash. The VITA Easyshade spectrophotometer served as the
reference standard. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test to compare accuracy among the three methods.
Results: The visual daylight method demonstrated the highest accuracy, with 71.8% correct identification of the
A3 shade. Smartphone photography without flash showed an accuracy of 22.5%, while smartphone photography
with flash demonstrated the lowest accuracy at 5.6%. A statistically significant difference was observed among the
three methods (P < 0.001), indicating that flash usage adversely affects color perception. No significant differences
in accuracy were found across the clinical levels of participants.