Patent ID: 7682150

Claim:
A method for preparing a dental prosthesis based on electronically determined color/shade data indicative of a color or shade of at least one patient's tooth, comprising the steps of: generating image data for an image of the at least one patient's tooth in a dental office; electronically determining the color/shade data in the dental office; visually outputting the image data and the color/shade data on a display device in the dental office; transmitting the image data and color/shade data to a computing device at a remote location over a data communication channel, wherein the remote location is remote from the dental office; establishing a telephone communication between a dental professional in a location proximate to the dental office and a dental technician or ceramist in a location proximate to the remote location, wherein the telephone communication occurs while the dental professional and the dental technician or ceramist are commonly viewing the image and color/shade data transmitted to the computing device at the remote location; preparing the dental prosthesis at the remote location based on the electronically transmitted image and color/shade data; and electronically determining color/shade data of the dental prosthesis, and based on the electronically determined color/shade data of the dental prosthesis selectively modifying the dental prosthesis prior to installing the dental prosthesis in the patient.