How to prevent teeth staining?

Ans. Stained teeth are not a pleasant sight for anybody. It gives an impression that you don’t pay attention to your teeth. Teeth staining is caused by extrinsic stains. Extrinsic stains are the discoloration of tooth on the outer layer, which is enamel of the tooth. The extrinsic tooth stains are caused by lifestyle habits like, the type of food you eat, cola and hard  drink, smoking  etc. common teeth staining foods are:

• Beverage like tea, coffee etc. these have tannins in it, which cause the staining of the tooth.
• Red wine.
• Carbonated drink like cola.
• Fruit juices
• Few curries and sauces.
• Tobacco chewing and smoking.

To prevent staining, practice healthy habits and some simple life style changes can be adapted. These include

• Brush your teeth twice a day regularly. Include flossing in daily routine.
• Try to brush after eating foods, which can cause discoloration of tooth.
• Quite the smoking habit, to avoid nicotine staining.
• Rinse your mouth after every meal.
• Choose an antibacterial mouthwash; it can help to protect the teeth from stain catching plaque.
• Eat the foods, which help in formation of saliva, like sugar free gums.
• Limit the intake of food that can cause staining.
• Use the straw while drinking the beverages that cause staining; it prevents the exposure of the tooth to the stain causing drink.
• Use teeth-whitening toothpaste.
• Eat crunchy fruits and vegetables; they have malic acid that helps to dissolve the stain and mechanically rubs the stain too.
• Visit your dentist in every six months.

 In case of intrinsic stains, which are caused because of age and other reasons, correction will be done by the dentist in the dental clinic.