Avoid These Foods If You Want a Bright Smile

About 8 in 10 Americans wish they had a brighter smile and with good reason. Whiter teeth can improve your confidence by enhancing your appearance and helping you look healthier and younger. 

At EZ Dental Clinic in Bellevue, Washington, our team of dedicated and skilled dentists helps patients get healthy and beautiful smiles through education, preventive care, and treatments like teeth whitening. Today’s blog explains the foods and drinks you should avoid and how to eliminate existing tooth stains.

Foods to avoid

Many different foods can cause tooth staining, particularly those with high acid levels and those that contain chromogens (intense pigments). Some of the most common specific culprits behind tooth stains include: 

• Berries: blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries
• Beets
• Cherries
• Pomegranates
• Tomato sauce
• Soy sauce
• Curry
• Balsamic vinegar
• Food dyes, like those found in cake icing

While you might find it difficult to avoid these foods completely, limiting them can make a big difference in the whiteness of your smile. 

Beverages to avoid 

Beverages can be just as bad or worse than foods regarding tooth staining. A few of the drinks you should avoid include:

• Dark sodas, like colas and root beer
• Coffee
• Red wine
• Black teas
• Dark beers
• Dark juices, like grape and cherry juice

While some foods that stain teeth might not be something you eat every day, beverages can be especially bad for your enamel because they’re part of a daily habit for many people. 

For example, if you have a cup of coffee every morning or a few glasses of red wine in the evenings, the color from those drinks gradually accumulates on and in your teeth, leaving you with dramatically dark or discolored enamel. 

Adapting your eating habits 

Some habits might be hard to let go of, so if you’re not quite ready to give up your favorite cola or other drink, use a straw. And, when you have tooth-staining foods or beverages, brush your teeth afterward to help reduce the damaging effects. 

What to do when your teeth are already stained

If your teeth are already stained, changing your eating habits can prevent the discoloration from worsening — but what about eliminating the stains themselves? That’s where our EZ Dental Clinic team can help with our professional-grade home teeth whitening system.

Professional teeth whitening involves using a powerful whitening gel to penetrate the tooth enamel, oxidize the stubborn stains, and lift them out of your enamel. 

Our team creates custom whitening trays to fit your mouth, and you’ll get a series of syringes containing the whitening gel. You simply apply the gel evenly to the trays, wear them for the prescribed period at home every day, and two weeks later, you’ll have a noticeably brighter smile.

After teeth whitening, the best way to maintain your results as long as possible is to avoid the foods and beverages discussed in this blog, adopt good brushing habits at home, and schedule regular dental cleanings in our office. 

Now, you can achieve the bright smile you deserve. Our team is happy to help you reach your goals, so give us a call or contact us online now.