Which foods stain teeth?

Some food stains your teeth more than others. If you have just had your teeth whitened and want to preserve that beautiful white smile, then you may want to know what foods are the main culprits for staining your teeth.

Tomato based pasta sauces

Since the tomatoes in sauces such as bolognese are bright red in colour, high in acidity and have a tendency to cling to teeth, they are one of the more teeth-staining fruits. If you want to protect your teeth from tomatoes have some dark green vegetables like spinach, kale or broccoli before eating the pasta sauce in order to create a protective film over the teeth. The film will ward off to some degree the staining effect of tomatoes. A green salad to start will have the same protective effect if you don’t feel like the vegetables.

Curry

Due to the deep pigmentation in various curries, this particular spice can cause yellow teeth over time. Again, fruit and vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, apples and celery can help prevent stains. Eat these protective foods before diving into your favourite curry. Due to their ability to highly stain your teeth, curry is something worth limiting in your attempts to keep your teeth white.

Balsamic Vinegar

Although a healthy salad dressing, balsamic vinegar can also darken your teeth. The naturally dark colour of this type of vinegar causes the staining and the high acidity of vinegar and tendency to stick to teeth completes the perfect teeth-staining storm. When having a salad with balsamic vinegar make sure you eat the lettuce since it will help to clean your teeth as you eat. Otherwise you can excuse yourself from the table and quickly brush your teeth before the vinegar takes hold. Eating the lettuce is probably easier since you don’t have to remember to take your toothbrush to the restaurant.

Berries

The deep red hue in raspberries, cranberries, blackberries and blueberries cause staining whether they are ingested as a drink, eaten whole or processed into jam. Wash out your mouth with water or milk within half an hour of eating them in order to counteract their staining properties.