What Causes Tooth Stains?

What Is Causing Your Tooth Stains?

You’d love to have a bright, white smile, but lately, your pearly whites are looking dull and dark. How did they get those stains? Here are the likely culprits.

Poor Dental Hygiene

This is usually the biggest reason your teeth look dull. If you’ve neglected your dental hygiene, your teeth never get deeply clean. Grime, yellow patches, and tannins from food all leave a film on your teeth.

Regular flossing and brushing are the first steps in removing this film, but you also need regular dental appointments. Only a dentist or dental hygienist can give your teeth the deep cleaning they need to stay healthy and shine brightly.

Your Morning Brew

If you can’t get up and start your day without your favorite cup of tea or coffee, you can thank it for staining your teeth. Over time, both tea and coffee can leave hard-to-remove stains on the surface of your teeth. Since most of us rush out the door right after drinking our coffee or tea, the stains just sit there all day.

Most people assume coffee stains more because it’s darker, but tea is actually the bigger culprit. Tea is higher in tannins, which are the substances that leave stains. Tannins are also in red wine and certain fruits.

How can you minimize the effects of coffee and tea?

• Drink a glass of water with your coffee or tea.

• Drink coffee or tea at set times of day and brush your teeth immediately after drinking them.

• Switch to herbal and green teas, which have fewer tannins than black tea.

Favorite Foods

Red wine, cola, chocolates, and blueberries all leave hard-to-remove stains on your teeth. So do cherries, pomegranates, blackberries, cranberries, and other vibrantly colored fruit. Do you want to hear more bad news? Pies made from these fruits will also stain your teeth.

Deeply colored sauces taste delicious, but they stain teeth. That includes tomato-based sauces, curries, and dark soups.

If you don’t want to give up your favorite foods, minimize their damage. Drink water during your meal, and brush your teeth after eating these colorful foods.

Sports and Energy Drinks

Energy drinks already get a bad rap for being high in sugar, caffeine, and artificial ingredients. What makes them really bad for your teeth, however, is being high in acidic compounds that erode your tooth enamel.

Don’t think you’re safer with so-called sports drinks, which frequently have artificial coloring, fruit additives, sugar, and artificial sweetener. Studies have found those sports drinks cause tooth enamel to chip. Save your teeth and your money by drinking water during your workouts.

Keep Your Teeth White and Bright

Your teeth are bombarded every day with things that stain them. To keep them clean, take steps to minimize the impact of darkly colored food and drinks.

• Use whitening toothpaste and mouthwash. These won’t replace whitening treatments, but they can remove daily stains.

• Try an over-the-counter whitening treatment that uses strips or tooth trays to brighten your teeth.

• If you want a truly dazzling smile, talk to your dentist about professional whitening.

Keep Your Teeth White with Our Help

At Malan Family Dentistry, we can help your teeth stay bright and healthy. We use the latest professional whitening techniques to create gleaming smiles. If you're not happy with the way your teeth look, make an appointment today.