Foods to avoid for teeth staining

Keep Your Teeth White by Avoiding These Foods

Many foods are bad for your teeth and oral health and should be avoided for this reason. However, there are also a lot of foods which can turn your teeth yellow and impact their cosmetic appearance without actually being bad for your health. Eliminating these from your diet is one of the easiest steps that a person can take when it comes to having whiter teeth. In fact, total elimination of these foods isn’t essential, even just reducing the amount of them that you consume will help.

However, if you've cut back on these foods, and still want to get your teeth a few shades lighter, you may want to call our friendly team in S. Melbourne. Just as your neighbours have found, when you come in for your appointment, you'll notice a difference in the whiteness of your teeth in under an hour. Read more about our teeth whitening service here.

Some of the most important foods to avoid if you want whiter teeth are:

Acidic foods (including citrus and tomatoes):

Even though these are traditionally healthy foods which are consumed by people across the world, they can have a negative impact when it comes to tooth whitening. Since they are acidic, they can actually erode your teeth, removing the pearly white mineral layer from the outside and exposing the somewhat more yellow dentin.

Sugary snacks:

Sugars in things like a lolly and chocolate has a nasty habit of sticking to your teeth and not letting go. Unfortunately, it then attracts bacteria which feed of it. While feeding, the bacteria release acids which, as noted above, contribute to the yellowing of your teeth.

Tea and coffee:

Although these aren’t considered unhealthy foods by anyone, anywhere, they do definitely contribute to yellow teeth. They contain staining compounds which latch onto your teeth and turn them yellow, greyish-black, and everything in between. Adding milk to your hot drink can help reduce its staining ability, but won’t remove it completely.

Red and white wine:

Red wine is full of tannins which latch onto your teeth and will eventually stain them yellow or grey. These tannins are very similar to those found in tea and coffee, so it seems like you will have to change everything you drink!

Unfortunately, white wine is also a no go. While it doesn’t stain your teeth directly like red wine does, it is slightly acidic. This acid compromises the outside layers of your teeth, which both allows bacteria in and makes it easier for other things to stain.

Blackberries and blueberries:

Again, these are not at all unhealthy or bad for you in any way, except for the fact that they will suck the whiteness out of your teeth. The pigments in berries like this are seriously nasty, and will stain even the toughest surfaces. Just think about how hard they are to get out of your clothes!

Updated 20th December by the zoom teeth whitening clinic on Clarendon St VIC

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