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Why does UV light make your teeth look white?

A silly quick Homework question, for physics, all i see on google though so stuff about whitening your teeth, which isn’t particulary useful, thanks.
A silly quick Homework question, for physics, all i see on google though so stuff about whitening your teeth, which isn’t particulary useful, thanks.

Edit: The only reason i’m asking is because i can’t seem to find the answer on the internet, if anyone can direct me to a site, that would be great. and please learn to spell ‘help’.

There is a large family of "dyestuffs" that are called "Optical Brightening Agents" or "Fluorescent Whitening Agents" these are used extensively in the paper and textile industries to make the substrate appear whiter. These dyes have the ability of absorbing invisible ultraviolet light with a wavelength below 400nm and re-emitting the light at a wavelength in the visible spectrum. So the object appears whiter – as long as there is some UV light present. Laundry detergents contain these products to make the washed clothing look whiter. Some substances naturally fluoresce under UV light. If your teeth do this it is most probably because the toothpaste contains some of these substances.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 9:31 am and is filed under white light teeth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “Why does UV light make your teeth look white?”

  1. it is like some kind of fungus
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  2. its gods way of punishing us for laughing at all those blacks when they smile.

    you gotta admire god for his ironic sense of humour!
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  3. Your teeth don’t absorb UV light
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  4. it makes everything look white whiter i think it has something to do with reflections on reflections i was in a club once and everyone could see my underwear through my dress how rude……
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  5. I’m not halping u cheat on your homework
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  6. colour generally apear due to the refraction……..if any body absorps all the radiation fallin on it then it apear of black n if any body refracted back all the wave fallin on then it appear of white….datz is the case of teeth too
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  7. Don’t knock it.
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  8. crush33 aka J.B on March 8th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    because uv stands for (underneather yellow teeth there is white) and the light shows the white layers of teeth underneather ur yellow
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  9. There is a large family of "dyestuffs" that are called "Optical Brightening Agents" or "Fluorescent Whitening Agents" these are used extensively in the paper and textile industries to make the substrate appear whiter. These dyes have the ability of absorbing invisible ultraviolet light with a wavelength below 400nm and re-emitting the light at a wavelength in the visible spectrum. So the object appears whiter – as long as there is some UV light present. Laundry detergents contain these products to make the washed clothing look whiter. Some substances naturally fluoresce under UV light. If your teeth do this it is most probably because the toothpaste contains some of these substances.
    References :

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