Have black people got whiter teeth?

[mistermack]

Or is it just the greater contrast with the darker skin colour?

I've always thought that it was more than just the optical effect. I remember the first time I worked with a black guy, I thought his teeth were whiter. I remember wondering why at the time, so I had a good look, and compared his teeth to those of the other white workers.
I concluded that they were definitely whiter.
Now I'm not so sure. Optical illusions are much stronger than we imagine.

What do you think?

[tattuchu]

Do Brits clean their teeth regularly like we do here in the States? I'm wondering because every time I see a photo of a celebrity from Britain, their teeth are piss yellow

[tattuchu]

p.s. No idea about the darkies.

[mistermack]

Do Brits clean their teeth regularly like we do here in the States? I'm wondering because every time I see a photo of a celebrity from Britain, their teeth are piss yellow

You're used to celebrities who bleach their teeth. That's so common in the US you end up thinking it's normal. They also get their teeth laminated to make them look whiter.
To my eyes, it's a ridiculous look. But I guess if you keep seeing it, that wears off eventually.

I remember seeing a three-year-old tiger in close-up, and it's teeth were really yellow. But you couldn't find stronger, more formidable teeth anywhere in the animal kingdom.

I guessing that if you were a smoker, your teeth do take up a bit of colour from the smoke. I'm just guessing though, that might be bollocks.

[tattuchu]

Naw, I'm not talking about teeth bleaching. Just cleaning. Over here, we get our teeth cleaned and polished every six months. No bleaching, no whitening. Just cleaning. But now look at this photo of Anthony Bourdain:

yellow teeth.jpg (6.49 KiB) Viewed 2376 times

Unless this is just bad lighting in the shot or something, this guy's teeth are horrifically yellow by American standards. And not celebrity standards. Just everyday standards.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Naw, I'm not talking about teeth bleaching. Just cleaning. Over here, we are really fucking vain.

[JimC]

Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, sayeth the preacher...

[Tero]

Oh no! First the blue black gold dress, now this!

[Xamonas Chegwé]

There are definitely black people with gold teeth - I've seen them! Do they just look white in a certain light?

[tattuchu]

Naw, I'm not talking about teeth bleaching. Just cleaning. Over here, we are really fucking vain.

It has nothing to do with vanity. It has to do with good hygiene and gum health

[Hermit]

[pErvinalia]

Or is it just the greater contrast with the darker skin colour?

I've always thought that it was more than just the optical effect. I remember the first time I worked with a black guy, I thought his teeth were whiter. I remember wondering why at the time, so I had a good look, and compared his teeth to those of the other white workers.
I concluded that they were definitely whiter.
Now I'm not so sure. Optical illusions are much stronger than we imagine.

What do you think?

Optical illusion, absolutely. This one is a pretty simple concept of contrast, as you mentioned.

[pErvinalia]

Oh no! First the blue black gold dress, now this!

[mistermack]

Naw, I'm not talking about teeth bleaching. Just cleaning. Over here, we get our teeth cleaned and polished every six months. No bleaching, no whitening. Just cleaning. But now look at this photo of Anthony Bourdain:

yellow teeth.jpg

Unless this is just bad lighting in the shot or something, this guy's teeth are horrifically yellow by American standards. And not celebrity standards. Just everyday standards.

Ha, that's bollocks. Whitening teeth is a big market in the US.
While I can see the point of whitening stained teeth, once you go past a natural shade, it just looks ridiculous. To me, anyway.
This is just the wikihow of tooth whitening. It involves some pretty serious bleaching :
http://www.wikihow.com/Whiten-Teeth
By the way, cleaning and polishing isn't unusual here either. My dentist always does it during my six monthly checkup, and my teeth don't look any different afterwards.

On the subject of cleaning teeth, what do people think of electric toothbrushes?
I use a ''sonic'' one that supposedly removes more plaque. But I don't trust it, so now I have ended up using a manual one AND electric one. I have my doubts that it does any more than before, so I'm just a victim of the advertising I guess. If I had to use just one kind, I would definitely discard the electric one.
I don't think it gets between teeth like a good manual brushing.

[tattuchu]

Naw, I'm not talking about teeth bleaching. Just cleaning. Over here, we get our teeth cleaned and polished every six months. No bleaching, no whitening. Just cleaning. But now look at this photo of Anthony Bourdain:

yellow teeth.jpg

Unless this is just bad lighting in the shot or something, this guy's teeth are horrifically yellow by American standards. And not celebrity standards. Just everyday standards.

Ha, that's bollocks. Whitening teeth is a big market in the US.

Oh, sure. I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying that with regular cleanings (and nothing else), our teeth over here aren't yellow.