Influence of Gender and Experience on Color Discrimination Competency

Methods: A total of 60 color normal subjects, 40 females and 20 males, were recruited. There were three groups of subjects: dentists – group D, dental technicians – group T, and students – group S. Each group consisted of 20 participants. The competence for color discrimination was examined using Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test (X-Rite, Grand Rapids, MI). The total error scores (TES) were calculated using the corresponding software. In addition, subjects were asked to match 26 pairs of tabs from two Vita 3D-Master shade guides (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany), where one set had original markings labeled with custom marks. Shade guide scores (3DS) were calculated as the number of correctly matched pairs. Both tests were performed under the controlled conditions of PDV-2e/M viewing booth (GTI Graphic Technology, Newburgh, NY) using D65 light source. Means and standard deviations were determined. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance. Fisher's PLSD intervals for comparison of means were calculated at the 0.05 level of significance.

Results: Analysis of variance showed no significant differences by gender for either TES or 3DS and by experience for TES. The 3DS for groups D, T and S were 18.6 (4.1), 20.0 (4.0) and 14.0 (6.4), respectively. Comparisons of 3DS by experience showed significant differences among group S and both groups D and T (P<0.001; power=1.0). There was no statistical difference in 3DS between groups D and T. Fisher's PLSD interval for comparisons of 3DS by experience was 2.6.

Conclusions: Within the limitation of this study, it was concluded that gender did not influence color discrimination competency of color normal subjects. The same was true for the influence of experience on Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test scores. Experienced participants had significantly better scores in matching pairs of shade tabs.