System and methods for analyzing tooth shades

A method for determining color characteristics a patient's tooth, comprising:

• providing a digital image of the tooth, the digital image having pixels;
• dividing the digital image into segments, each segment forming a pseudo-pixel comprising one or more pixels of the digital image;
• computing color characteristics of each pseudo-pixel based on the corresponding one or more pixels of the original image;
• and
• storing the computed color characteristics in a computer memory.

A system for associating a tooth shade relative to a tooth, comprising:

• a digital camera for capturing digital images of human teeth, the digital images having pixels;
• a processor for converting digital images captured by the camera to REAL IMAGES formed of pseudo-pixels, at least one of said pseudo-pixels comprising two or more pixels of the digital image;
• and
• means for correlating the generated REAL IMAGE with two or more REFERENCE IMAGES representing tooth shades to determine which tooth shade most closely matches visual characteristics of the tooth.