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Writer's pictureDavid Chen, DDS

Dental Implant Color Chart: All Available Shades

Updated: Jan 24

The dental implant color chart is used to select a tooth shade for the porcelain color of the dental implant crown. Ideally, the color should match our natural teeth because no one wants a titanium colored tooth.


Dental implant crown in mouth
Dental implant crown in mouth

We will show you the color chart that is used for implants so you know what the options are for selecting your new tooth color.


Table of contents:


Dental implant color chart

The dental implant color chart is the same teeth color chart that is used for crowns, veneers, and teeth whitening. The most popular one is the VITA classical tooth shade guide, which shows every color possible for natural teeth.


VITA classical tooth shade guide
Classic shade guide

This color chart has 16 different available shades for teeth that are divided into 4 different color families with different hues.


Tooth Color Family

Hue

A tooth shades

Reddish-brownish

B tooth shades

Reddish-yellowish

C tooth shades

Grayish

D tooth shades

Reddish-grayish


Yes, teeth can have reddish, brownish, and greyish tones to them. We often think that teeth are just on a spectrum from white to yellow but there are tints of other colors to them. As evidence, just look at the manufacturer instructions by VITA explaining the colors.


VITA shade guide instructions sheet

Bleached shades for implants

Aside from the natural teeth colors, implants can also be made in the bleached tooth shades otherwise known as the "Hollywood whites."


VITA bleach shades vs IVOCLAR bleach shades

These colors are artificial in that no one has teeth that are naturally this color. These shades are extremely white and are only achievable with either teeth whitening or dental veneers.


There are two commonly used bleached shade guides, the 0M colors and the BL colors. To give you some perspective on how white these colors are, we will compare them to the whitest natural tooth color, B1.


B1 vs bleached tooth shades - 0M1 0M2 0M3
B1 vs bleached tooth shades - 0M1 0M2 0M3

Bleach shades BL1, Bl2, Bl3, Bl4 vs B1
Bleach shades BL1, Bl2, Bl3, Bl4 vs B1

Ultimately, yes you can get your implant to be the same whiteness as the hollywood celebrities' teeth. The world is your oyster and you can choose whatever color you desire.


 

What the color is for

The color chart for dental implants is only used to select a shade for the crown portion. What it is not used for is picking a color for the implant screw fixture, healing abutment cap, and cover screw.


Dental implant crown with screw fixture
Dental implant crown with screw fixture

Essentially, the implant crown is made of porcelain and you should choose a tooth color that will match your adjacent teeth. Doing so will keep your smile looking natural. What would look unnatural is if you didn't select a color and just left it metal colored because that would be a travesty.


Gum color

Due to aesthetic challenges, sometimes your dentist may need to also add fake gums to your dental implant because you may not have enough gingiva. If you had a lot of gum recession or bone loss, you may need to have fake gums added to your implant crown.


implant crown with pink porcelain for gums
implant crown with pink porcelain for gums

Dentists like to refer to this as "pink porcelain" since the gums are usually pink in color. The gum colors that you can pick are similar to the denture gum colors.


Denture gum shade guide - L199 OR, LRP, LT, Dark
Denture gum shade guide - L199 OR, LRP, LT, Dark

Colors of other implant parts

What the dental implant color chart is NOT used for is selecting a color for the other implant parts such as the screw fixture, healing cap, and cover screw. Those three components typically remain as metal colored because it is unnecessary for them to be tooth colored.


However, there may be minor colored markings on these components for ease of identification but they aren't tooth colored. They're just random colors to help match the various implant parts that go together.


Healing abutment colors

The healing abutment screw cap is often colored but they're definitely not the same color as your teeth since it could be purple, green, yellow, etc.


The image below shows a couple of different healing abutments and what colors they can be. These colors cannot be chosen by you and neither can your dentist. These colors often relate to the size of your implant and they are that way for ease of identification.


dental implant healing abutment colors - purple green yellow

They are colored that way as an extra fail safe so that your dentist uses the proper sized parts together.


healing abutment in mouth
healing abutment in mouth

Cover screw colors

The cover screw for the implant can be colored or uncolored, meaning it just looks like metal. It all depends on the brand of implants that you're using and what color coded system they've decided to use.


cover screw vs healing abutment
cover screw vs healing abutment

Implant screw colors


implant body color
implant body color

The dental implant screw fixture is titanium colored unless you've a zirconia one, which would be white in color. For the ones made of titanium, the body itself is the color of titanium but the internal hex connection can have a color to them.


Implant screw fixture internal hex color
Implant screw fixture internal hex color

Choosing an implant color

When it comes time for choosing a color for your implant, the best color for you would be one that matches your adjacent teeth. That is what you should do if you are getting a single implant restored.


The reason for matching the color to the rest of your dentition is to make it blend in seamlessly in your mouth. You want your smile to look uniform in color so that no one can tell that you lost a tooth and had dental work done.


However, if you're getting a full mouth makeover where you are replacing a lot of your teeth at once, you do have the option to select whatever color you desire. If a hollywood white smile was something that you've always wanted, now is the chance to go for it.


Takeaway

When it is almost time to get your new implant crown, you will need to use the dental implant color chart to select its color. Without it, you may be choosing the wrong shade or even worse, not having a shade at all.


If you opt for no color it would just be titanium colored and that would not be cosmetically acceptable. Of course, if you want metal looking teeth then maybe that is the right choice for you. Our dentists in Long Island City recommend choosing a color that matches your adjacent teeth!

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About the author: Dr David Chen, DDS

Hello, I'm Dr Chen and I'm an actively practicing dentist in Long Island City, NY. I graduated from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine in 2016 but prior to going to dental school I was already working in the dental field. It's been more than a decade since I first got to know dentistry and let me tell you, time flies by quickly. Since then I've developed a fondness for writing, which is how this all got started!

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Medical Disclaimer:

This blog is purely meant for information purposes and should not be used as medical advice. Each situation in your mouth is unique and complex. It is not possible to give advice nor diagnose any oral conditions based on text nor virtual consultations. The best thing to do is to go in person to see your dentist for an examination and consultation so that you can receive the best care possible.

The purpose of all of this oral health information is to encourage you to see your dentist and to inform you of what you may expect during your visit. Due to the unfortunate nature of dentistry, there isn't really any true home remedies that will get rid of dental problems. Roughly 99.99% of them require in-person intervention by a healthcare professional.

Hint: That is the reason why you can't eliminate seeing dentists in your life!

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