Matching the color of mature dentition may be one of the difficult challenges which dentist faces in practice. Visual color matching is difficult to reproduce and is highly subjective due to variables that affect shade matching including light condition, background, age, sex, and experience, et al. The common color matching devices are colorimeters, spectrophotometers, red green blue（RGB） system or combination above which have different principles. Instrumental color matching technology has been applied to help dentist create lifelike restorations, since they are not influenced by significant parameters in visual selection. But these devices also have shortages. In this article, the development and current situation of instrumental color matching technology are reviewed.
