CLINICAL RESEARCH
DENTIN
OPACIFICATION FLUO
DEC
TRANSPARENCY FLUO
ENAMEL
TRANSLUCENCY OPAL
Fig 1 Relative attribution: although translucent by nature, the coronal structural elements can be graded with regards to their relative dynamic light interactivity and unique optical expression.
luster (S/G/L) should also be appraised in conjunction with translucency, opal- escence and fluorescence (T/O/F) as part of the process of visual assessment (Fig 2).
Introduction In the modern dental practice, recreat- ing the optical features of the intact tooth presents a formidable task, due to the in- herent translucent nature of enamel, the dentinoenamel complex (DEC) and den- tin. Translucent materials offer a signifi- cant color measurement challenge since they interact with light in a far more com- plex manner than most other materials. While being translucent by nature, when coronal structures, such as enam- el, the DEC and dentin, are compared among each other, they seem to pos- sess relative translucency, transpar- ency and opacity respectively (Fig 1). Anachronistic traditional visual estima- tion approaches that solely employ the Munsell color model system based on hue, chroma, and value (H/C/V) domi- nate the dental market appear to be inadequate when conveying the perti- nent information among the dental team members (clinician/technician/patient). Further information regarding the de- scription of surface texture, gloss, and
Dynamic light interaction
Reflection and refraction in enamel and dentin
Incident light ray interactivity with a tooth can be: Reflected specularly and/or diffusely from its surface (Fig 3) Refracted and either: – scattered within it and subsequently reflected, a process largely respon- sible for color perception (Fig 4) – transmitted diffusely through it (re- lating to the properties of transpar- ency, translucency and opacity) (Fig 5) – absorbed within it (the electromag- netic energy is transformed to other forms of energy, eg, heat, photolu-
332 THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ESTHETIC DENTISTRY VOLUME 9 • NUMBER 3 • AUTUMN 2014
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