3 Habits That Are Yellowing Your Teeth
We are all guilty of enjoying certain simple pleasures in life that may not always be the best for us. For a majority of Americans, having a pearly white smile is important. However many of us do not realize that certain habits of ours are actually working against our goal to that picture perfect smile. If fact many of our guiltiest indulgences tend to yellow teeth. Not only can these bad habits affect our oral health, but they also diminish your smiles vibrance.
As the famously known Crest commercial once said, “If you are not whitening, you are yellowing.” With that said, the best thing you can do to maintain a white smile would be to practice a strong oral hygiene routine each morning and night paired with commitment to breaking bad oral health habits can not only help you keep your smile healthy but it will also begin to brighten and whiten your smile over time. Read below to learn more about a few common habits and guilty pleasures that tend to yellow teeth.
Heavy Coffee,Tea, Soda, and/or Wine Consumption
Drinking a cup of coffee, tea, or having soda everyday can have a staining effect on your teeth. The strong pigments in a dark roast coffee or a wines for example can embed into the small cracks in your teeth. This is what leads to teeth yellowing. A common mistake is that adding creamer or milk to coffee to lighten its pigment will minimize the staining effects of coffee, but the fact of the matter is that your milk sweet coffee still contains those same acidic qualities and pigments as black coffee. In order to lessen the likelihood of stains, you would need to use significantly less coffee to allow for a majority of creamer or milk to limit stains. Limiting consumption of these beverages or drinking from a straw will help limit the amount of time teeth are exposed to these pigments keeping your teeth whiter for longer.
Tobacco Use
Tobacco contains nicotine and tar which are not only bad to your overall health, but can be just as detrimental to your teeth. While some may argue that nicotine is colorless, the truth is that when it is exposed to oxygen it yellows. This yellowing is absorbed through fracture cracks not visible to the naked eye on teeth causing them to yellow or brown. Luckily for you, these stains can only go surface deep. This means with the right care from your Dental Specialist of Roseville you can have these stains removed.
Too Many Sugar Sweets & Candies
The sugar in all of your favorite sweet treats (yes, including sweet pastries) turn into an acid in your mouth’s environment. This acidity is not good for your smile at all. Not only will this acid erode your teeth’s enamel, but it will also lead to yellowing. To limit the effects of this be sure to brush your teeth well after indulging in your sweets. Drinking water while enjoying candy also helps neutralize the acids.
If you would like to turn back the clock and remove those yellow stains, our Dental Specialist of Roseville recommends that you maintain a consistent and caring oral hygiene routine. Keeping up with your routine dental visits and cleanings can really help you minimize the chances of teeth yellowing. If you are looking to quickly turn that yellow smile into a pearly white masterpiece, do not hesitate to call our practice at (916) 945-9901.
