Patent ID: 8052424

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: providing a series of ceramic base ingots, each base ingot in the series having a shade corresponding to a different shade of a shade guide having a plurality of shades associated therewith, wherein the number of shades of base ingots in the series is less than the total number of shades associated with the shade guide; selecting a base ingot of a shade having a value at least as high as a shade associated with a patient's tooth, wherein a lower value corresponds to a darker shade; using the base ingot to form a dental restoration; determining whether the shade of the dental restoration formed by the selected base ingot corresponds to the shade associated with the patient's tooth; and in response to determining the formed dental restoration does not correspond to the shade associated with the patient's tooth, staining the formed dental restoration with a stain of a lower value than the selected base ingot.