People often run to the dentist for cosmetic whitening procedures for their discolored teeth. It is very important to many people to have a bright smile and quite rightly too. Your teeth are flashed whenever you smile and it would seem unattractive for people to stare at your stained teeth. They could also be a cause for embarrassment and might harm the self-confidence of a person.
There are quite a few foods and drinks that tend to discolor your teeth. This does not imply that you ought to quit consuming them. However, try limiting their intake and wash or brush your teeth after having these foods.
Coffee
There is nothing like hot coffee early morning. Coffee however has quite a discoloring effect on your teeth. Caffeine rich coffee is pretty addictive and would be very hard to give a miss. A few methods of minimizing the discoloring effect of coffee would be to drink through a straw or diluting it with milk and brush and chew gum after coffee intake.
Tea
Black tea is a terrible teeth stainer just as its cousin coffee. Tea in contrast to coffee has some alternatives such as green, white and herbal teas. These are infact good for your teeth. So avoiding stained teeth by tea is as simple as switching to teeth friendly brands although some might find this difficult.
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce forms an integral part of Asian food and is very delicious. It contains very strong discoloring agents and the sauce tends to stick to the teeth which allow the leeching of staining pigments deeper in to the teeth.
Curry
The Indian curry is famous all over the world. It’s spicy, hot and tasty but has its own demerits as well. The herbs and spices used in the Indian curries are extremely chromogenic (color imparting) and are very likely to stain your teeth. The stains are quite strong as well and hence it is suggested to drink plenty of water with your food besides brushing teeth and chewing gum immediately after.
Red wine
Red wine contains polyphenols that stain your teeth. The alchohol in red wine is very acidic and also wears the enamel of the teeth. Do not brush your teeth immediately after consuming red wine. Rinse your mouth and chew gum however.
Cola
Cola drinks not only stain and discolor your teeth but also erode enamel and cause tooth decay due to the harmful phosphoric acid, citric acid and sugar content in them. These are often served chilled which causes the enamel to become more vulnerable to staining. Minimize the staining effect of cola by drinking it through a straw.