Effect of ocular dominance, clinical experience, and sex on the accuracy of shade selection

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate the influence of ocular dominance, clinical experience, and sex on the accuracy of visual color matching. METHOD AND MATERIALS: A total of 104 selected participants consisting of dental students and dental practitioners were allocated into two groups based on their clinical experience of using visual shade matching tabs for the selection of tooth shade. Both the inexperienced (IXP), as well as experienced participants (EXP), were then asked to correctly match the shades of five tabs (A2, A3.5, B1, C2, and D3) of a commonly used visual shade guide (Vitapan Classical shade guide, VITA Zahnfabrik) that were kept constant throughout the study. The participants documented the shade of those tabs using another set of shade guide using the right eye (left eye covered), left eye (right eye covered), as well as both eyes. Test for ocular dominance was performed using the Dolman method. The results were statistically analyzed using the chi-square test with a level of significance set at < .05. RESULTS: The percentage of correct shade matching with the monocular dominant vision (53%) was significantly better as compared to the monocular non-dominant vision (12%) (P < .001) or binocular vision (44%) (P < .05). Sex had an influence in shade selection (P = .031). However, clinical experience was an insignificant aspect in shade matching (P = .078). CONCLUSIONS: Knowing the clinician's dominant eye can be clinically relevant, as it can influence the accuracy of shade selection, irrespective of sex and clinical experience.