Color shade determination in Sudanese population

There is limited information about the most dominant tooth colour shade in Sudanese population. The relation between skin tone, age, gender as criteria aiding in selection artificial teeth for completely edentulous Sudanese patients need to be addressed. This study aimed to identify the tooth colour shade in a sample of Sudanese population and it’s relation to age, gender and skin tones. The study comprised 222 individuals in 4 groups; 15-24 yrs,25-34yrs,35-44yrs and 45 yrs and above. One investigator, calibrated for examining tooth shade, performed all examinations. A Vita 3D master shade guide was used to examine either the maxillary right or left central incisor. A tooth had to be sound for inclusion in the study. Skin tone was divided into three categories (dark, medium and light) after performing a pilot study of 40 photographs and making tone pellet guide using PSPP12-Corel software. Chi-square test was used to analyze the data (P>0.05). Most common tooth colour recorded in the study was 2M2 followed by 2M1, and 2M1.5. This study concluded that lighter tooth shade was funded in younger age group and female individuals..