It’s hard to believe that another year is nearly over and the festive season is in full-swing. This is the time of year when most of us tend to indulge in festive cheer, but that’s no reason to let your teeth suffer. Even if you are partial to red wine, there are ways to minimise and even prevent staining on your teeth. Here we share our top tricks for keeping your teeth free from wine stains.
- Our favourite tip is to brush your teeth before you start drinking. Because red wine (as well as other foods like tomatoes, coffee, coke and curry) tends to cling to the plaque on your teeth, the best way to prevent staining is by cleaning your teeth first. We recommend brushing about one hour before you begin drinking to ensure your teeth are nice and clean without the taste of toothpaste affecting your drink.
- If you plan to drink red wine, start with it and stick with it. Drinking white wine prior to red can exacerbate staining. White wine is very high in acid, which erodes your tooth enamel and can act like a primer to make the red wine tannins cling to your teeth more.
- Try sipping on sparkling water in-between your alcoholic drinks. Not only does this help to keep you nicely hydrated, the bubbles in sparkling water can loosen up any wine clinging to your teeth and reduce staining.
- Cheese and red wine go naturally together anyway, and the good news is that cheese can actually help to prevent red wine stains on teeth. The calcium in cheese can help to close micro-pores on the surface of your teeth, making it harder for wine tannins to stain them.
- Another trick is to eat high-fibre foods, such as green vegetables and potatoes. These encourage your mouth to make more saliva, which can help to remove staining tannins as you eat.
- The first rule of good oral health is never go to bed without brushing. Always brush your teeth at the end of the night, no matter how late it is.
- If you do find that your teeth start looking a little worse-for-wear, our professional teeth whitening services are the best way to remove stubborn, built-up stains and restore your smile to one you can be proud of.
