What you eat and drink can have a significant impact on the appearance of your teeth. Even foods that we consider healthy can cause stains or decay. Find out more about the foods and beverages that, despite their attractive qualities, can have a negative impact on your oral health.

“Too much sugar will rot your teeth out” is an oft-repeated phrase from childhood, and though it shouldn’t be taken 100 percent literally, candy is in fact one of the worst things for your teeth. Hard candy, soft candy, gum, cookies, and the like contain enough sugar to sufficiently coat your teeth. And once this happens, oral bacteria feasts on this sugar, in the process releasing harmful acids that cause tooth decay.

Make no mistake: citrus fruit and the nutrients within are good for you. Unfortunately, these fruits (a group in which tomatoes are included) are also heavy on acid that can eat away at your teeth’s precious enamel. Beneath the enamel is something called dentin, a tissue with a yellowish color – thus the yellowish tinge that one’s teeth can assume. With fruit, as with candy, it’s not so much about staining as it is about the erosion happening that wears away the enamel on teeth.

Some people who choose us as their cosmetic dentist are regular consumers of pigmented fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, and pomegranates. And why not? These fruits have a well-deserved reputation for antioxidant content. The downside is their rich pigmentation, which over time can be difficult to remove from teeth. A good rule of thumb is that the harder a food stain is to remove from clothing, the harder it is to remove from teeth.

Depending on the day and the source, you may read that wine is good for the heart, can help prevent cancer, and boosts memory. Whether or not those things are true, one fact is that wine (red and white) will stain your teeth. In red wine, it’s tannins that contribute the most to discoloration. And in white wine, it’s not tannins but acid that gradually eats away at teeth, leaving behind tiny pockets where other food and beverage can gain a foothold for future staining. For many Americans, wine is an acceptable guilty pleasure. At Circle Drive Dental, we are here to help with a professional teeth whitening procedure in Rochester, MN.

Coffee, like wine, is one of the world’s most popular beverages. And like wine, coffee contains tannins that discolor teeth. Coffee is also acidic, like citrus fruits, and alters the mouth’s pH balance. This weakens enamel and makes teeth more susceptible to damage and decay.

Similar to coffee, soda hits the mouth with a double-whammy. In this case, it’s a combination of sugar and acid that attacks one’s teeth. Bacteria feeds on the sugars deposited on your teeth, while acid can eventually create holes in teeth that can lead to a host of decay-related problems.

Many of the foods and beverages on this list are items we consume every day, and some of them have significant health benefits. As with anything though, the best council is moderation - and specific to things like candy and soda, the buzzword is “limitation”. Contact our office today, make an appointment with a highly-trained teeth whitening dentist, and learn more about oral care while we restore the gleam to your mouth.