Shade

Problem / Question

The shade is lighter than the tab. After the Body and Enamel firing there is too much translucency.

Cause

The balance Enamel and Body is not appropriate.

Solution / Answer

If the Body thickness is less than 0.8mm, use about 0.2mm of Opacious Body underneath the body shade.

If there is not enough space for porcelain, use translucent only in the incisal area.

If there is not enough Body and there is excessive Enamel the translucency will be too high. Use more Body and less Enamel.

If the case is a 4 shade, underlay the Body with 0.2mm Opacious Body.

Problem / Question

The shade in the incisal area is too dark.

Solution / Answer

Use one shade lighter Enamel or mix the two.

Problem / Question

Compared to the Vita Lumin guide, the hue is too red.

Solution / Answer

When the crown is inserted, the patient's gum color will absorb the redness of the crown. If the crown matches the shade guide exactly the crown tends to look dark. High chroma shades like A4 and A3.5 tend especially to have this problem.

Problem / Question

After glaze the shade is too dark and grayish.

Cause

The metal color was not blocked effectively by the opaque.

Solution / Answer

Be more careful at the opaque stage.

A Body porcelain thickness of at least 0.8mm is recommended.

If you are using a 3-layer technique, try using 2-layer technique with more body porcelain to increase value (0.8mm).

Use 1 shade lighter enamel or at least mix some in, for example use a mixture of 1 part E2 and 1 part E3 instead of pure E3.