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Two Ways to Keep Your Teeth as White as Possible

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Bright white teeth are generally considered to be a sign of good health and attractiveness. Here are two ways that you can keep yours as white as possible.

Avoid consuming tannin-rich drinks

Red wine, coffee and black tea all contain substances known as 'tannins'. Tannins can stain the enamel of the teeth and in doing so, can make them look very yellow (or in severe cases, brown).

If you want bright white teeth, these drinks should be avoided entirely. However, if you don't want to completely remove them from your diet, you should take steps to minimise the amount of staining that they may cause. You can do this by rinsing your mouth out for a minute or two immediately after drinking these liquids and by brushing your teeth more frequently.

If you do notice some tannin-induced staining, you should ask your dentist to perform a scale and polish. In addition to removing tartar, this process should also help to remove most of the staining caused by your consumption of the above-mentioned drinks.

Prevent dental erosion

Whilst teeth often turn yellow when a person consumes too many tannin-rich products, they can also turn this shade if their enamel erodes, as the wearing away of the enamel results in the exposure of the dentin layer underneath (dentin is naturally yellow in colour).

Once the enamel of a tooth has eroded, it cannot be regenerated, and the only method of remedying the yellow appearance of the affected tooth is to have a dentist cover it with a veneer or crown. It's also worth noting that a tooth whose enamel has worn off is more susceptible to infection and decay, as the enamel acts as a protective barrier that keeps bacterial plaque from damaging the tooth structure.

As such, if you are concerned with keeping your teeth white (and with maintaining good overall dental health), and you do not want to incur the expense of the aforementioned dental treatments, it's important to prevent the erosion of your teeth's enamel.

There are a couple of ways to go about doing this. Firstly, you should reduce your consumption of acidic food and drink (such as for example, citrus fruit and sparkling water), as the high acidity levels can contribute to the erosion process.

Secondly, you should eliminate (or drastically reduce) the number of sugary foods you eat, as bacterial plaque use sugar to produce acids that cause enamel erosion. For more information, contact a local dentist.


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