METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED TOOTH SHADE ANALYSIS AND MATCHING

Methods, apparatuses and systems for tooth shade analysis and matching are disclosed. A method embodiment according to the invention includes acquiring at least one image, the image including one or more teeth of a patient and normalization references, normalizing the at least one image in accordance with the normalization references, determining the color of the teeth as composed of colors from one or more selected shade standards, communicating the standardized color information to a dental laboratory, manufacturing a dental prosthesis based on the standardized color information and installing the dental prosthetic. Normalization is performed to correct patient images for variations in lighting conditions and image source. Normalization references include a black reference, a white reference and at least one color reference. The normalized image is standardized by matching the pixels of the normalized image to selected shade standards. Selected shade standards may include incisal tooth shade standards. The standardized color image and/or analysis may be communicated to a dental laboratory according to aspects of the invention. The dental prosthesis can then be manufactured by a lab technician by referring to the standardized image. Color models according to the invention may include RGB, HSI and other models for representing color images. The methods, apparatuses and systems for tooth shade analysis and matching are also applicable to direct restorations of natural teeth, such as repair of chipped or broken teeth.