Shade Matching for the Lab: How to Take Shade Photos and Send a Stump Shade

The crown seats, the margins are closed, and the patient looks in the mirror: too white, too gray or too opaque next to its neighbor. In an audit of 2,612 remakes from seven dental laboratories, shade mismatch was the recorded reason for 16.3% of them, and for 23.6% of e.max crown remakes, the highest share of any material (Alkadi et al., 2026).

Most of what prevents those remakes happens in the first minutes of the appointment: the right light, photos the technician can read, a stump shade and a specific Rx. For the other causes, see crown remakes: causes and prevention.

Quick Answer

Take the shade first, before preparation, retraction or isolation, under daylight-corrected light (about 5,500 K, CRI above 90), in quick looks. Photograph the tooth with two or three tabs in the same plane and their numbers visible, plus a cross-polarized photo with a gray card if you can. For e.max, add the stump shade. On the Rx, give body, cervical and incisal shades, characterization, translucency, neighboring restorations and any bleaching plans.

Why Is Visual Shade Matching So Unreliable?

The eye is a poor measuring instrument. In a 2017 study, 40 observers with normal color vision matched the same ten ceramic crowns in three sessions, weeks apart. They chose the same tab as in their other sessions 64% of the time with VITA classical and 48% with the VITA Toothguide 3D-Master, and agreed with each other 55% and 43% of the time (Igiel et al., 2017).

Light

Metamerism means an object's color is perceived differently under different light sources (Karcioglu et al., 2025). Dental professionals with normal color vision matched porcelain shades significantly better under D65 daylight than under tungsten light (Gokce et al., 2010).

Fatigue

VITA advises choosing quickly and trusting your first decision, because the eye tires after about 5 to 7 seconds.

Color vision

People with red-green color vision deficiency matched shades less accurately in a 2018 study (Pohlen et al., 2018). ISO/TR 28642, the ISO report on color measurement in dentistry, includes guidelines on the color vision of people who assess shade.

For scale: in a study with 175 observers, half noticed a color difference of 0.8 CIEDE2000 units and half judged 1.8 unacceptable, the perceptibility and acceptability thresholds (Paravina et al., 2015).

Which Shade Guide Should You Use, and What Does the Lab Need to Know?

Use the guide you know best and tell the lab which one it was.

VITA builds 3D-MASTER systematically, lightness first, yet observers in the 2017 study were more consistent with classical tabs. Do not mix brands: four VITA-coded shade guides from ceramic makers did not match the VITA classical tabs for hues B, C and D (Sampaio et al., 2018).

When and Under What Light Should You Take the Shade?

Before the prep, before isolation

Dry teeth look lighter (Burki et al., 2013), and they dry fast. In a study of 32 participants, 72% of teeth had changed beyond the acceptability threshold after one minute of isolation, and 65% still had after 15 minutes of rehydration (Suliman et al., 2019). Ivoclar's e.max instructions agree: take the shade on unprepared or adjacent teeth, cleaned, in daylight, and photograph the starting situation.

Under daylight-quality light

VITA recommends a standardized daylight lamp, color-neutral surroundings, no lipstick and a gray cape over bright clothing. The research standard is 5,500 K with a color rendering index (CRI) above 90 (Wee et al., 2016). In a randomized study of 96 dental students, handheld shade-matching lights scored better than a professional viewing booth, with or without a polarizing filter (Clary et al., 2016).

How Do You Take Shade Photos the Lab Can Use?

Put the tab in the same plane as the tooth

Hold the tab next to the tooth, incisal edge to incisal edge, at the same angle and distance from the lens, so both get the same light. Keep the printed tab number in the frame.

Photograph two or three tabs

Show your best match with its closest alternatives, one lighter and one darker. The technician then sees where the tooth falls between them.

Control exposure and flash

Use manual settings, keep them fixed for the whole case, and avoid flash hot spots on the tab or tooth. In a comparison of six setups, ring-flash and iPhone 7 photos were less standardized, and a cross-polarizing filter gave the most color-standardized photos (Sampaio et al., 2019).

Add a cross-polarized photo and a gray card

Cross-polarization cuts room glare and flash reflections from saliva, teeth and restorations. A gray reference card with known color values lets the lab correct white balance and exposure; in the Sampaio study, it made a significant difference to ring-flash and iPhone photos. Photos support the tab selection but do not replace it: observers matching on cross-polarized photos did no better than on standard ones, and neither reached clinical acceptability (Saygılı et al., 2025). Send both kinds.

Phone or DSLR?

A 2026 systematic review of eight studies found no consistent superiority for smartphones or DSLRs in dental shade assessment; standardized lighting, calibration and capture mattered more (Alhumoud et al., 2026). With a phone, fix the settings, turn off filters and include the gray card.

Why Does the Stump Shade Matter for E.max?

A dark prepared tooth can spoil the result under translucent, enamel-like ceramics such as e.max. On e.max CAD crowns, abutment color, cement color and ceramic thickness all changed the final color; a dark abutment made the largest difference, and thicker ceramic reduced it (Chaiyabutr et al., 2011). Across twelve substrates, try-in paste mattered least (Czigola et al., 2019), and Ivoclar says cement has only a minimal effect on the overall shade.

How to record it

Use Ivoclar's IPS Natural Die Material shade guide, nine tabs from ND 1 to ND 9. Select the shade at the largest, most discolored area of the stump; if you are torn between two shades, Ivoclar says to choose the darker one. The lab can then make a model die in that shade and choose the ceramic over the right background. Photograph the prep with the tab beside it, and note posts, core build-ups and abutment materials on the Rx. A very dark stump may change the material altogether; see zirconia vs. e.max.

Can a Spectrophotometer or Intraoral Scanner Take the Shade?

Spectrophotometers

Researchers use them as the reference standard. In a lab test of four devices on shade tabs, VITA Easyshade was 96.4% reliable and 92.6% accurate (Kim-Pusateri et al., 2009). The limit: a spectrophotometer usually measures one point on the tooth (Vitai et al., 2025), so photos are still needed for characterization.

Intraoral scanner shade tools

In a meta-analysis, scanner readings repeated well (81% to 85%) but matched the reference shade only 28% to 38% of the time. As the authors note, high precision is useless if you repeatedly measure the wrong shade; they recommend against scanner shade determination (Vitai et al., 2025). Some scanners did as well as individual observers in one clinical study (Ebeid et al., 2022). A review advises setting the scanner to 3D-Master and verifying its shade visually (Akl et al., 2023).

What Should You Write on the Rx?

• Body, cervical and incisal shades. Translucency increases from the cervical area to the incisal edge (Vitai et al., 2025), so give a shade for each zone.
• Guide and stump shade. "VITA classical" or "3D-Master", plus the ND shade for e.max.
• Characterization. White spots, craze lines, incisal halo, mamelons or cervical staining, and how strongly to reproduce them.
• Translucency. Low, medium or high at the incisal third. In the remake audit, "esthetic concern", a category that includes translucency and characterization, was recorded separately for 15.5% of remakes.
• Neighboring restorations. Next to a crown, veneer or composite? Say whether to match it or the natural teeth, and photograph them together.
• Bleaching plans. Bleach first, then take the shade; bonding is commonly delayed 2 to 4 weeks after bleaching because it lowers enamel bond strength (Keni et al., 2018). If the patient will bleach later, give us the target shade.

What Photos Should You Send? A Checklist

Shade and Esthetics at Elegant Dental Laboratory

• Every case is made in house in Brooklyn by more than 35 technicians, with no outsourcing; digital scans are reviewed before production.
• IPS e.max full-contour crowns, veneers, layered crowns, inlays and onlays, and zirconia including 9-layer, solid with buccal porcelain, and copings with layered porcelain.
• 5 business day standard turnaround on most restorative cases, rush options available, and up to a 7-year warranty on final restorations.
• Pickup by our own drivers in the New York area (call to confirm availability) and UPS shipping labels anywhere. Send a case or call 877-335-5221.

Related Guides

• E.max Press vs. E.max CAD: Which Lithium Disilicate Should You Prescribe?
• How to Send a Scan to a Dental Lab: iTero, TRIOS, Medit, CEREC, DEXIS and More
• Crown Prep Guide: Reduction, Margins and Taper for Zirconia, E.max and PFM

FAQ

Should I take the shade before or after the prep?

Before. Teeth change color within a minute of isolation and look lighter as they dry.

What is a stump shade?

The color of the prepared tooth. Send it for e.max and other translucent restorations, where it shows through.

VITA classical or 3D-Master?

Either, if the lab knows which you used and it is a genuine VITA guide.

Can I use my phone for shade photos?

Yes. A systematic review found no consistent winner between phones and DSLRs; fixed settings and a gray card matter more.

Is my scanner's shade reading good enough?

Use it as a starting point and confirm with tabs and photos; trueness was low in a meta-analysis.

Reviewed by Gary Fingerman, founder and CEO of Elegant Dental Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York (founded 2007). Last reviewed: September 28, 2026. Study values are from published research or manufacturer documents; always follow the current instructions for use of your shade guide and restorative material.