Cosmetic Dentistry: What is the Perfectly “White” Smile?

A bleach-white smile doesn’t look sensational on everyone, according to a study in JADA titled, “Assessing the Influence of Skin Color and Tooth Shade Value on Perceived Smile Attractiveness.”

By altering skin tone and tooth brightness on photographs of smiling women, researchers created a way to test how people perceive beauty in regards to tooth enamel color. Seventy dentists and 70 laypeople answered questions about the photos. The findings show that skin color affects the shade that is attractive on teeth.

According to the report:

“Dentists and laypeople did not perceive the brightest tooth shade to be the most attractive, and they did not perceive all skin colors to be equally attractive with bright white teeth. Respondents perceived dark skin with bright white teeth and fair skin with dark teeth as relatively unattractive.”

SOURCE: http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/6/696