One hundred and forty one male dental students and staff were screened for colour-defective vision. Ten colour-defective and 20 non colour-defective subjects then carried out a shade matching exercise using nine selected shades and another matched, shade tab (to test for consistency) from Vita shade guides. All shade matching took place under standard lighting conditions. Each subject also completed a short questionnaire relevant to shade matching. There were no significant differences found between colour-defective and non colour-defective subjects in shade matching abilities. Although both subject groups were similar in their shade matching abilities, individuals with colour defective vision perceived it to be a slightly more difficult exercise.