T. Vigneshwar Sambandam, Sindhu Ramesh

Abstract

The aim of this knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey was to study the level of awareness among the students, general dentist and practitioners in Chennai, the current status of KAP toward shade matching of anterior teeth. This study was carried out in Chennai in October 2016. The participants were divided into Group A - Endodontist, Group B – Students, and Group C - General practitioners. A survey of 250 questionnaires was handed out to participants to fill. The result shows that the common reason to do an anterior restoration was esthetic. Majority of them told light source plays a very important role in shade matching/selection as it interferes during shade selection. Almost 80.4% of dentist preferred to get an opinion from patient too during sharing selection. About 39.3% of people took 5 s do shade matching and 37.5% of people took almost 10 s to do shade matching. The color and appearance of teeth are a complex phenomenon, with many factors. Hence, for a good esthetic outcome to be achieved, the dentist should consider all possible entities which influence shade selection.