A morning cup of coffee or tea can be a favorite part of your daily routine, but drinking these wonderful beverages can have consequences. Unless you practice a healthy dental routine and take some preventive measures to protect teeth from tea/coffee, dark pigments from these drinks can cause stains and turning your teeth yellow over time. Thus your smile can easily lose its brightness.
In addition, once developed, stains are more difficult to remove. Which is why today we are specifically talk about how to protect your teeth from tea, coffee or similar beverages.
How to Protect Your Teeth From Tea, Coffee:
A smile is essential in our beauty-conscious society. Tooth discoloration can result in poor self-esteem and lead to various mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, a feeling of fear and embarrassment, affecting the ability of a person to interact with others and participate fully in society.
Thanks to all the advancements in medicine and technology, we can now effectively resolve poor dental appearance and reverse its negative effects on mental health.
Still, the best way to deal with a dental problem is prevention by following a healthy dental routine. If you notice your teeth turning yellow and you don’t like the idea of ditching your favorite drinks, there are still many steps you can take to keep your smile as pearly as possible.
Keep Up With Your Oral Care Routine
A proper oral care routine is the best way to protect your teeth from staining. As plaque attracts staining substances, it’s crucial to brush your teeth regularly to reduce both plaque and overall discoloration.
A proper oral care routine includes brushing your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes at a time. This will keep your teeth and your mouth healthy, clean, and stain-free. For the best results, don’t skip flossing your teeth once a day as well. A Water Flosser works great to take off anything lurking near your gums.
Visit Your Dentist Regularly
Your dentist will remove surface stains and any onset of dental disease you may have. It’s easier to treat something before it starts or at the very beginning than at the advanced state.
If you’re a bit too late for preventive measures, your dentist can still bring back the beauty of your smile. Even the most complex cases of yellowing, decaying, or lost teeth can now successfully be fixed using dental implants, restoring both the functionality and your teeth ‘natural looks.
Add Some Milk
Adding some milk to your coffee or your tea will lighten its color, affecting how deeply the drink will stain your teeth. Animal milk is high in protein and will bind polyphenols in these liquids. So, instead of staining your teeth, polyphenols will move on to your stomach, where they will be broken down.
However, to prevent staining, opt for animal milk, as soy milk won’t have the same effect.
Brush Your Teeth After the Beverage
The longer the residues of your drink sit on your teeth, the staining will be more intense. To reduce the staining, try carrying a toothbrush like cariPRO ultrasonic toothbrush and toothpaste with you so that you can brush your teeth after you had a potentially staining beverage.
However, remember that you should wait at least 30 minutes before brushing them to reduce the risk of enamel erosion. The acid in these drinks can soften the enamel on your teeth. By brushing your teeth right after, you could be harming your enamel.
Use a Whitening Toothpaste
Using a whitening toothpaste can also help with tooth discoloration. They contain mild abrasives that scrub the teeth to remove the surface stain. Usually, these types of toothpaste are gentle enough to be safe, but it’s best to consult your dentist for prolonged use.
Some natural remedies, such as baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, or apple vinegar, can help you get rid of yellow teeth too.
Use an at-home Whitening tray:
Suggested read: 10 Facts Everyone Should Know About Teeth Whitening
If whitening toothpaste is not cutting it anymore, use a whitening tray. A truly custom-fitted whitening tray (e.g., this whitening tray) ensures that every angle of every tooth (regardless of whether your teeth are straight or not) receives even and consistent coverage. To read more about at-home whitening, read my review on: At-home Teeth Whitening with SmileBrilliant.
Home Teeth WhiteningHave Some Water Between Your Drinks
You can reduce the effects of potentially staining beverages if you drink water between each of them. Besides washing away dark liquids from your teeth, this habit is great for your overall health as well. For the best effects, try alternating a sip of hot chocolate, tea or coffee, with a drink of water.
As a bonus, you will enjoy your favorite drink a bit longer.
Design Your Coffee Hour
Instead of consuming these beverages all day long, try designating your coffee or tea hour when you will be able to enjoy your favorite beverage while minimizing the risk of staining your teeth. Afterward, you can drink lots of water to rinse your teeth or brush them before the pigments start setting in.
Use a Straw
You can also limit the direct exposure of your teeth to staining beverages and the sugar they contain by using a straw. This technique will not completely protect your teeth, but it will reduce their detrimental effects. If you like your coffee or tea hot, make sure you use a straw designed for hot drinks.
Educating yourself on the effects of these beverages on your teeth and the best practices to protect them from staining can help you keep a beautiful and healthy smile for a longer period.
How do you protect your teeth from tea, coffee or other beverages? Share your tips with us!
About the Guest Writer:
Stephen Jones is a freelance writer and a new father. “Becoming a father for the first time is not easy, but it is so much happiness that complicated things are handled in the best way because the baby is the fruit of love and he brings great satisfaction.” Stephen enjoys writing about health, food, nutrition, and children’s health for other parents. “Freelance writing has always been my passion so I combined the two and hopes to be able to share my passion with others!” Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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