Coffee, wine, and soy sauce will always be a part of our diets.
Each is amazing in their own right, and while they may not be the healthiest of options, they’re irresistible compared to alternatives.
We continue to consume these products, despite health precautions, and the effect they have on our teeth. It doesn’t take a microscope to notice that these consumables make your teeth much less than sparkling white.
Plus, there’re a number of ‘sneaky-stainers’ that you’d never guess are giving your teeth a nice yellow hue. Cosmetic dentists Nancy Rosen of New York and Karoush Maddahi of Beverly Hills share their tips to avoid these undercover teeth tinters.
Lemonade
The acidity from the main ingredient – lemons – erodes tooth enamel. When this happens, the next layer of dentin is revealed. Unfortunately for us, dentin rocks an unwanted yellow colour.
White wine
White wine isn’t necessarily a white tooth killer on its own, but is one of the top accomplices. Combined with certain foods, like pasta and tomato sauce, white wine has a similar effect to opening your teeth’s pores so all that stain can be sucked in.
Green juice and smoothies
When it comes to tooth stains, Maddahi’s approach is logical and straightforward: “Anything that really stains your clothes, that’s really difficult to get out, stains your teeth as well.”
Smoothies can be uber-nutritious thanks to the berries and veggies they’re packed with, but those same ingredients can get some serious staining done. There’s no way we’d tell you to cut the healthy smoothies out of your diet for the sake of vanity, but we can suggest using a straw instead.
Related: Actually, Charcoal Toothpaste Doesn’t Whiten Your Teeth
Pools
You’d think this would be the other way around, that pools are more afraid of being stained from us (see: pee) than we are of them.
It’s strange but true: pools can actually stain your teeth.
“A lot of times you keep your mouth open or let water into the mouth, and those chemicals that treat the pool can actually cause a brown stain in the mouth,” says Rosen. It’ll take at least six hours of pool time to start ruining your teeth, which isn’t that hard to achieve in the summertime.
Overall, the best advice the experts had in anti-stain defense is to simply brush after eating. BUT don’t brush until 30 minutes after your meal, if your food was acidic: brushing too soon after can actually accelerate acidic erosion.
Photo Credit: Ekaterina Kondratova/Shutterstock.com; Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
