Disclosed is a smart lighting system for applying light to teeth in the context of tooth whitening. This particularly concerns teeth that have been provided with a light-curable whitening varnish. The system comprises a light-generating unit, a light-patterning unit, a mouth imaging unit, a mouth image sensing unit, and an image processing and control unit, and is adapted so as to allow the image processing and control unit to adjust the light-patterning unit on the basis of information obtained from the mouth image sensing unit. By doing so, prior to allowing the light-generating unit to emit light, it can be ensured that light emitted to assist tooth whitening, does not affect soft tissue.
