Patent ID: 7871268

Claim:
A device for determining one or more translucent dental materials used in a dental restoration so that covering the translucent dental materials over an individual's prepared tooth matches a desired tooth appearance, the device comprising: a storage apparatus configured to store reference template parameters, the reference template parameters including a color value parameter associated with one of a plurality of reference templates having an actual or simulated tooth material covered by at least one translucent layer of dental material; and a computer system operatively linked to the storage apparatus, the system comprising an input device configured to receive input parameters related to the desired tooth appearance, a program configured to perform calculations utilizing the reference template parameters and the input parameters to select one or more translucent dental materials, the calculations dependent on a tooth shade of the prepared tooth and an influence of the tooth shade of the prepared tooth upon the desired tooth appearance, so that a difference between the desired tooth appearance and an appearance of the tooth after the restoration is minimized, and a processor for running the program.