Which light best portrays an accurate depiction of the whiteness of your teeth?

July 20, 2006 10:13 AM

What kind of light do you use to accurately measure how white your teeth are?

There are at least three different kinds of light that I've seen my teeth in, all portraying the whiteness of my teeth at varying shades. Sunlight is the worst. My teeth (IMO) look terrible when viewed in sunlight. Contrast that with my incandescent bathroom light, where I think they shimmer. The third perspective is fluorescent, which is in the middle.

Which light portrays the most accurate depiction of the whiteness of my teeth? Which would you rely upon when making a judgment regarding a need to whiten (or at least get a professional cleaning)? Why? I'm all for a scientific explanation of light and teeth, BTW, though anecdotal evidence is appreciated as well. Thanks.

posted by SeizeTheDay to health & fitness (9 comments total)

Sunlight is probably the most accurate, in that it contains the the broadest spectrum. if your teeth are yellow and your bathroom light has a yellow cast, your teeth will look relatively white.
posted by doctor_negative at 10:23 AM on July 20, 2006

Anecdotally, fluorescent light should probably be the most accurate, because it approaches white light much more than incandescent bulbs or the sun (both of which have quite a bit of yellow). However, since humans have evolved under the Yellow Face That Burns, yellowish light (i.e. sunlight) is probably more useful as a barometer of appearance than more accurate fluorescent light.

Of course, the real issue isn't "where is it most accurate", but "where do I want my teeth to look white, and how much?"
posted by Bugbread at 10:24 AM on July 20, 2006

Whoops...Looks like my answer is the inverse of doc_negative's, so I'm going to have to look a bit more into the spectral distribution of fluorescent light vs. sunlight.
posted by Bugbread at 10:26 AM on July 20, 2006

Because of variations in illumination, a better approach might be to compare the color to standards (swatches). Any tooth-whitening place will have a ring of different-colored tabs that they would be happy to let you use if it meant they might get your business.
posted by Mapes at 10:32 AM on July 20, 2006

Sorry, looks like I was wrong:


posted by Bugbread at 10:33 AM on July 20, 2006

I'm going to agree with one point of bugbread's.

It doesn't matter which is most accurate, or which light source has the broader spectrum. An objective analysis of your teeth'
s whiteness doesn't really help you any.

All that matters is how they look in the environments that you are frequently in and which of these environments you want them to look good in. Checking yourself out in these environments, and as many of them as possible will give you the best idea of how you look to others.
posted by utsutsu at 10:36 AM on July 20, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I will also agree with bugbread re: look good in common sources of light, not the "best" source. Moreover, I will say it might be a good idea to figure out the "worst" lighting condition, the one that makes your teeth look the worst. If you can look good in THAT light, you'll look good in more flattering situations.

Now, some may say, yes, but don't you want to avoid the artificial "nuclear" whiteness that might come from over-doing it? And my answer is ... good luck getting there. ;-) People's natural pigments come in all colors.
posted by frogan at 11:34 AM on July 20, 2006

The searing light of self-reproach and shame.

Obviously.
posted by poweredbybeard at 1:15 PM on July 20, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Off to the dentist for a quick polishing then. Thanks folks. As some of you already know, I'm a bit of a coffee junkie, so it can't be too surprising to find out that my teeth are not as white as they should be. I've kicked the habit (going on a week now) but obviously I'll need a dentist to eliminate the evidence of my vice.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 6:39 PM on July 20, 2006