Shade guide
Also called: shade tabs, tooth shade guide, shade system
A shade guide is a set of tooth-coloured tabs, each with a code, that a dentist holds beside a patient’s tooth to choose a matching colour. The code goes on the Rx so the lab can match it. Practice and lab need to use the same guide, because codes differ between systems.
How it shows up between practice and lab
The shade code is one of the details that gets left off an Rx. Without it the lab cannot finish the case, and has to ask.
A code gives one colour, and a tooth has several. A photo with the tab held beside the tooth shows the lab how the colour changes from the gum to the edge.
Many dentists take the shade at the start of the visit, before the teeth dry out.
Read more in incomplete prescriptions and shade communication with your dental lab.
Related terms
Updated