Is Coffee Bad for Your Teeth?
Many people cannot imagine starting their day without a cup of coffee in the morning, in fact 64% of American adults currently consume coffee every day. But is coffee bad for your teeth?
Here is a quick rule for every drink/food: if it can stain your clothes, it will stain your teeth. The same goes for coffee. Coffee contains tannins, a type of polyphenol which breaks down in water and causes color compounds to stick to your teeth, producing a yellow hue which can be difficult to remove.
Coffee stains your teeth, but does it do any other damage? Unfortunately, the answer is YES.
Coffee is an acidic drink, which means it damages your teeth by eating away the enamel, which is the outermost layer of your teeth. Coffee also damages your teeth the same way other food does, especially if you take your coffee with sugar: food particles stick to the pits and crevices of your teeth and feed the bacteria in your mouth. This bacteria is the culprit behind cavities and gum disease, which left untreated lead to gum disease, losing teeth and even strokes and heart disease.
In summary, coffee contributes to much more than simple staining when it comes to your oral health. However we have 8 ways you can prevent staining and damaging of your teeth.
8 Ways to Help Prevent Coffee from Staining and Damaging Your Teeth
1. Limit How Much Coffee You Drink
If you are a 3-cups-a-day person but are concerned about having coffee-stained teeth, it may be worth limiting yourself to just one or two.
2. Eat Something Before Your Coffee
Eating even just a small amount before you enjoy your coffee can prepare your teeth for the staining tannins. The food and the saliva you produce will create a buffer between the coffee and your teeth.
3. Increase Your Daily Intake of Crunchy Fruits and Vegetables
When you crunch on raw vegetables and fruits, your mouth produces more saliva, washing away bacteria and whitening teeth naturally. Plus, eating green vegetables like kale or broccoli will further help protect your teeth due to their minerals.
4. Take Your Coffee with Milk
Black coffee stains your teeth more due to the sheer acidity. Diluting it with milk can diminish the staining effects of coffee. However if you drink coffee with sugar also, you can cause a different way for coffee to damage your teeth.
5. Drink Your Coffee with a Straw
Drinking iced or hot coffee with a straw can help diminish the staining effects it has on your teeth. Obviously use caution, as sipping steaming hot coffee with a straw can cause burns.
6. Drink in One Sitting
“Sip All Day, Get Decay” Just like with soda or other sugar drinks, sipping coffee throughout the day, increases bacteria build-up, and the acid in coffee attacks the teeth. Each attack lasts about 20 minutes and starts over with every sip you take. Therefore, it is best to finish the whole cup in one sitting, then allow your mouth to rest and recover.
7. Brush Your Teeth Right after Drinking Coffee
It is the common thought to brush two times a day, but if you really want to prevent the damages of coffee to your teeth you should also brush right after you drink it. Also using a toothpaste containing baking soda can help remove staining better than others.
8. Use an Electric Toothbrush
Electric toothbrushes are more effective than regular toothbrushes when it comes to removing coffee stains. If you use a manual toothbrush but you love your daily coffee, it may be worth investing in a different toothbrush. Also, make sure to change your toothbrush often: The shelf life of your toothbrush should only be a few months. When you use the same toothbrush for too long it can build up bacteria, which transfer into your mouth. When you notice the bristles wearing down or becoming worn and soft, it’s time to replace your brush.
How to Remove Coffee Stains From Your Teeth
Okay, so you are now eating something before you drink, reducing the number of cups, drinking through a straw in one sitting, increasing your daily crunchy fruits and vegetables, and brushing with an electric toothbrush and baking soda toothpaste after each cup – BUT you still have stains.
Now what?
Truly, the only way to remove old or new coffee stains from your teeth is to use teeth whitening solutions.
Learn about how to whiten your teeth without damaging them:
