One of the hardest things that we have to do in dentistry is color match, especially as we move closer to the anterior. The single central makes us cringe.

I think a lot of people are nervous doing anterior teeth for fear of esthetics. One thing that I have used to help lower that pressure a bit is the Vita Easyshade. I started using it when I was an associate and now have one in my own practice. VITA has released new software that helps choose the appropriate VITA block for the case that you are working on.

- You can get a single value for the tooth you are working on

- You can map multiple areas and use that to help dial-in the shade on difficult-to-match situations

- You can check the shade of porcelain on a tooth by telling the Easyshade what color you think the porcelain is and it will tell you if you are close or way off

- You can also determine the accuracy of your existing shade tabs 

I don't use this only for CEREC. I use it when doing composite restorations or when trying to get a shade pre-bleaching. I also use it when sending cases to the lab to give them an idea of the value of the adjacent teeth to help them give me the best possible result. It has made trying to match restorations I'm creating to the existing teeth so much easier and with much less stress.

I have read that 10 percent of men are color blind. I'm not sure if I fall into that category, but this device sure helps keep me out of it!