So, you’ve given up red wine and coffee yet your teeth are still stained. What gives?
The culprit could be lurking elsewhere in your diet, Whitney DiFoggio, a registered dental hygienist, told The Post.
“It’s not just the things we think of,” she said, highlighting java, tea and vino. In fact, “anything that can stain a white t-shirt” will likely discolor your pearly whites, such as red sauce or even blueberries.
“I’ve had patients come in and their tongue is stained really dark, and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ and I try to figure it out,” DiFoggio recalled.
“I had a patient just recently who said, ‘Well, I eat blueberries like all day. I snack on them all day. I love blueberries.'”
While limiting those dark-hued foods is one of the best ways to avoid staining, not everyone wants to give up their morning cup of joe or their daily nightcap. If you must consume stain-causing foods and beverages, DiFoggio recommends rinsing with water immediately after.
“I always say, make sure you have a coffee next to you and a water,” she said. “Every time you take a sip of coffee — if you’re really worried about staining — you should always try to rinse with water after.”
While whitening toothpaste can help prevent staining, DiFoggio said to put down your at-home whitening strips. At-home whitener won’t do much without a professional cleaning first.
Plaque, the slimy film of bacteria that covers teeth and is removed by brushing and flossing, is typically what is stained. Whitening at home, then, will only whiten the plaque, not the actual tooth.
“You need to get that plaque layer removed first,” noted DiFoggio, whose patients are “astounded” by how much better their teeth whiten after a trip to the dentist.
Of course, the gold standard of dental hygiene — daily brushing and flossing — will “help reduce any stains,” but there may be one more area you’re missing: your tongue.
“I know the boring answer to brushing flossing, but tongue scraping is a big one, too,” she said, adding that 90% of bad breath bacteria is found on the tongue.
“So I always tell people, keep your tongue just as clean. Reducing plaque levels on your tongue will reduce plaque levels spreading throughout your mouth.”
Staining, she added, often starts between the teeth where the plaque is not disrupted “because a large amount of people do not floss.”
Going just 24 hours without flossing allows that sticky biofilm to harden and become tartar, which poses the risk of gum disease and tooth loss.
“I know that’s dramatic to be like, ‘if you don’t floss you can lose your teeth,’ but technically you can,” she cautioned.
“The number one cause of people losing teeth is gum disease, not cavities. Cavities you usually lose one or two teeth at a time. Gum disease, you lose them all because the bacteria spreads.”
