Clinical evaluation of a dental color analysis system: The Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^®

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical performance of the Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^®, a dental color analysis system.
Methods: Three color-measuring devices (Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^®, CAS-ID1, MSC-2000) were tested and the differences in color measurements among them were evaluated using Scheffe's F-test. Color measurements with the Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^® were repeated 10 times by the same operator. The color difference (ΔE) between the first and tenth measurements was calculated. The Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^® was used to measure the color of the maxillary left central incisor under two conditions (light and dark) and the effect of exterior lighting was analyzed to assess the accuracy of measurements. Furthermore, five different operators performed color measurements, and ΔE among the three devices was calculated. The ΔE between the target tooth and the crown of a single maxillary central incisor crown fabricated using data from the Crystaleye Spectrophotmeter^® was calculated. Color differences between prebleaching and postbleaching were also analyzed with the Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^® using the parameters ΔE, ΔL*, Δa*, and Δb*.
Results: The data from the three spectrophotometers were not significantly different. The ΔE during repeated color measurements by the same operator was 0.6. The ΔE between light and dark conditions was 0.9. The data from the five operators were not significantly different. The mean ΔE value between the target tooth and the fabricated crown was 1.2 ± 0.4, and the mean ΔE value between prebleaching and postbleaching was 3.7 ± 1.0.
Conclusions: The Crystaleye Spectrophotometer^® is an easy-to-use color analysis system producing accurate color measurements under clinical conditions.