A crown matches adjacent teeth perfectly in-office lighting but appears noticeably whiter at the patient's home. What optical phenomenon explains this?

Correct answer: A. Metamerism

• A. Correct. METAMERISM occurs when two objects match in color under ONE light source (dental office light) but appear DIFFERENT under another (home/natural light). This happens when the objects have different spectral reflectance curves that produce the same perceived color under one illuminant only.
• B. Incorrect. Translucency mismatch affects how light passes through but is not the cause of light-source-dependent color shift.
• C. Incorrect. Fluorescence can affect appearance but the specific phenomenon of matching under one light source but not another is metamerism.
• D. Incorrect. A value difference would be consistently apparent across all light sources.