Prevention over restoration.
Sure, there are many teeth whitening regimens out there that you can apply over and over again to keep your teeth as pearly white as possible. However, if you can manage to prevent stains, you wouldn’t have to deal with that at all.
It is an ongoing effort, but it sure saves the time, money, and inconvenience that teeth whitening costs. Understanding what causes the stains is the first step. Then, work around them, practice good oral hygiene, and you’ll be on your way to teeth that you can be proud of.
Stainers
- Coffee – Especially if it’s highly sweetened, coffee isn’t a great friend to teeth. Especially because most people sip on coffee rather slowly, the exposure that your teeth have to this staining substance is prolonged. This offers more opportunity for the stains to bond to your teeth and wear down the protective enamel. You’ve seen how coffee stains a porcelain cup; it does the same thing to your teeth.
- Tea – Similar to coffee, tea very easily stains and yellows teeth. It is often similarly consumed over a long period of time like coffee commonly is. Tea is commonly highly sweetened as well, and the sugars further work to feed the bacteria wearing away your enamel.
- Red wine – This beverage contains a mixture of really effective staining ingredients. The grapes contribute a natural dye, and the acids and tannin that are used to make red wine taste the way it does all work together to stain your teeth. If you’ve ever spilled red wine on the carpet, you know how impressive its staining power is.
- Grape Juice – The natural dye in grapes work in juices as well as it does in wine.
- Blueberries – Maybe you’re starting to see pattern things that stain your clothes and carpet also do a good job at staining your teeth. Blueberries will stain your teeth pretty heavily, but most people don’t consume copious amounts of blueberries every day (compared to the coffee or soda intake of some people)
- Soda – This one is mostly because of how acidic it is, on top of its high sugar content. It tears away at your enamel and proceeds to easily stain your teeth.
- Tobacco – However you take it, whether it’s chewing or smoking, tobacco is one of the best ways to stain your teeth best in that it yellows your teeth quickly and severely. Refer to what is known as the smoker’s mouth.
- Soy Sauce – This one is usually not a big problem since the amount consumed is typically not in high doses.
Tips to Prevent Stains
Well, you can avoid bathing your teeth in the above listed substances every day, but that’s really only part of the battle. Plaque attracts stains, so keeping up with your daily brushing and flossing is essential to preventing stains. Also, none of this is saying that you can’t consume any of these ever just understand that they’re good at staining your teeth. There are things you can do to lessen or eliminate their effects. Don’t sip on drinks for long periods of time; just drink it within a few minutes. After exposing your teeth to any of these, drink a glass of water or rinse out your mouth with water to remove remnants of the substances from the surfaces of your teeth.
One of the most important things you can do for your teeth is to keep up with your biannual dental appointments and check ups. It’s your best method of prevention, keeping your oral health in check. If it’s time for your cleaning, contact us today to set up an appointment.