Exploring Digital Gingival Shade Matching in Students.

Purpose: To study the degree of accuracy in gingival colour matching of undergraduate students using a computer application.

Material and methods: Seventy-six undergraduate dental students were evaluated in gingival shade selection using an in-house developed computer application. Fifteen intraoral gingival photographs and 21 pink gingival colour porcelain samples were used. The environmental conditions were standardised, and no time limit was set for answering in the computer application.

Results: Fourteen gingival colour samples (66.6%) were not useful to represent the studied gingival shades. Not all natural gingival colours studied were represented within the 50.50% acceptability limits of the pink samples. There were no statistically significant differences between males and females in terms of "hit" percentages. The highest correlation coefficient (in absolute value) was for the L*-coordinate (the darker the gingiva in the picture, the higher the hit rate for choosing the "ideal" shade tab); however, none of the linear correlation coefficients were statistically significant.

Conclusions: Not all colours provided in the pink ceramic system were useful for subjective gingival selection. There were no statistically significant differences between male and female dental students in gingival colour perception. The L* coordinate was the only one that influenced the correct perception of gingival colour by dental students, and it does so more in women than in men.