If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you probably ask yourself how to prevent coffee stains on your teeth. There are several ways that you can address staining that is already present on your teeth from coffee and other ways to prevent coffee from staining your teeth in the first place.
Does Coffee Stain Your Teeth?
The tannins in tea and coffee are what causes the discoloration and staining on teeth, so the more tannins or the darker the drink, the more staining is going to occur unless you take countermeasures immediately after drinking that morning cup of joe.
How To Drink Coffee Without Staining Your Teeth?
Try H2O, Too
Try having a glass of water alongside your cup of coffee. By rinsing away the coffee from your mouth right away, you prevent the coffee from being able to sit and stain your teeth.
Drink Coffee Through A Straw
By drinking your coffee through a straw, you aren’t giving the coffee the opportunity to sit on your teeth and start forming stains. Try using a straw in your coffee, especially if you typically sip your coffee, instead of chugging it.
Rinse Your Mouth
Rinse your mouth out with water the moment you finish with your coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to linger in your mouth and on your teeth, the more likely the coffee is to stain your teeth.
Brush Your Teeth After Coffee
Be sure that you are brushing and flossing three times daily, and more frequently if you’re eating more than three meals per day. Don’t forget to floss, because in between your teeth is where coffee will hide and start to stain your teeth.
See Your Dentist
See your dentist regularly, at least every six months, and follow up on all of your dentist’s recommendations for regular dental care. Your dental cleanings are important to prevent your teeth from becoming stained and developing other dental issues over time.
Use Electric
Upgrade your manual toothbrush to an electric toothbrush. The level of cleanness that you can achieve with an electric toothbrush is so much greater than the level of cleanness that you can get from a manual brush. Go ahead and spend the extra money on a good electric toothbrush and really feel clean teeth.
Use Mouthwash
Try using a whitening mouthwash, like one with hydrogen peroxide, as an ingredient. It will help to keep your teeth from staining, and also will freshen your breath after a cup of coffee.
Chug It
Instead of sipping on your coffee, chug your coffee once it has cooled. When you sip on a drink with heavy tannins, such as coffee, you’re allowing those tannins to settle on the enamel of your teeth and begin to stain them. Instead, quickly chug the coffee drink, and then rinse your mouth out with water to avoid staining your teeth.
How to Remove Coffee Stains From Your Teeth?
Use Whitening Products
There are many over the counter teeth whitening products that work very well for removing stains from your teeth. There are products like teeth whitening strips, whitening toothpaste, whitening mouthwash, and whitening teeth trays. You can purchase these products at pharmacies and other retailers, and they vary in price. Typically, you’ll need to use these products for around two weeks before you can see any noticeable results from use, but they have been known to work very well for removing light tooth staining.
Use Peroxide
You can use a mix of baking soda and peroxide to brush your teeth, and it can remove light staining from your teeth. Wet your toothbrush with peroxide, then sprinkle baking soda onto your toothbrush. Brush your teeth as normal for at least two minutes, and don’t spit the baking soda and peroxide out until at least the two-minute mark. Use a gentle circular motion while brushing, then rinse your mouth with lukewarm water. Try not to swallow any of the baking soda and peroxide mix, as it may upset your stomach if you do. This works as well, if not better than commercial whitening products that are on the market. It will certainly help to remove coffee stains from your teeth and remove any other light staining as well.
So, enjoy that cup of coffee in the morning, and adhere to these tips, and you should be able to maintain your bright, white smile without staining.
