Aesthetics: how to have very white teeth?

Having white teeth is an aesthetic quest pursued by many people and sometimes necessary for self-confidence.

Invited Thursday in 

on Europe 1, Isabelle Schwartz, dental surgeon in Paris and specialist in dental aesthetics, reviewed all the possibilities, more or less effective, to present a more beautiful smile.

Healthy lifestyle, ancestral remedies, dental surgery in the office ... Overview of what can be done to improve teeth whiteness.

>> Find all of Sans rendez-vous every day from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here

Lemon, not so good for the teeth

Isabelle Schwartz first of all recalled that there are two types of stains on the teeth.

Those "extrinsic, on the surface" and those "intrinsic, which are due to malformations under the tooth enamel".

The latter are formed "in utero, during the mother's pregnancy", underlined the specialist, "hence the importance of a good diet during pregnancy".

For the first type of tasks, on the other hand, "it is food, (the consumption of) coffee, tea, cigarettes or poor hygiene" that must be questioned.

These challenges should be favored over so-called "grandmother's" remedies, according to Isabelle Schwartz.

Or at least some of them.

This is the case with sucking a lemon.

"Lemon is acidic, the enamel is calcareous. So the acidity will initially create porosity, then holes" secondly, warns the dental surgeon who condemns this practice.

On the other hand, Isabelle Schwartz considers that the use of bicarbonate can be "good", without necessarily guaranteeing clarification.

Whitening or the dental veneer

Unsurprisingly, "washing your teeth well" limits the appearance of "dental plaques" and therefore "tart formation", which also protects the gums.

Only then can cosmetic dental interventions, such as teeth whitening, be considered.

"We are not going to bleach someone who smokes or who takes a lot of coffee," said Isabelle Schwartz.

Without making the teeth completely white, this process makes it possible, on the other hand, to lighten them after a preliminary dental examination.

For a practitioner, it costs between 700 and 1,000 euros.

Another method, "intermediate between bleaching and the crown", according to the specialist: the veneer.

This is the "false nail of the tooth", illustrated Isabelle Schwartz.

This takes the form of an external tooth face that is glued to the tooth surface.

This operation also allows to play on the volume of the tooth or its positioning, in addition to its color.

But it has a cost: between 1,200 and 1,500 euros for a veneer, that is to say for a tooth.