To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with having red wine for the holidays. This drink is a great and flavorful way to celebrate the winter season, especially among friends and family. You’ll just want to be careful of discolored smiles; red wine can often cause tooth stains. With that said, your Ormond Beach dentist knows a few tricks for preventing this issue. Just keep reading to learn how to avoid wine-stained-teeth over the holidays.
Yes, Red Wine Can Stain Teeth
As much as you may wish otherwise, red wine tends to stain teeth. It has colored compounds that can discolor your enamel over time.
Red wine has three qualities that contribute to tooth stains. First among these are tannins, biomolecules known to bind dye to your teeth. Next are anthocyanins – unique grape pigments that give red wine its famously dark color. The last (but certainly not least) quality is red wine’s high acidity, which makes your enamel porous enough for stains to stick.
Any one of the elements above could cause stained smiles. When combined in red wine, however, they make tooth stains almost certain.
Ways to Avoid Wine-Stained Teeth
Thankfully enough, it’s possible to have red wine without getting tooth stains. You just need to take one (or more) of the following steps:
Brush Before Drinking
Before you do any drinking, please brush and floss first. Doing so removes plaque from your smile that’d otherwise attract red wine’s staining compounds. At the same time, such brushing and flossing would reduce your risk of wine-induced tooth decay and gum disease. (Don’t try to brush right after drinking, though; that act would spread wine residue across your smile.)
Pair Your Wine with Cheese
Rather than have it alone, pair your red wine with some good cheese. The latter has calcium that can close the tiny micro-pores on your smile’s surface. As such, the cheese you eat would help prevent stains from forming on your teeth. (That the dairy product’s flavor blends well with wine is a nice bonus.)
Rinse Your Mouth with Water
Once you’ve finished your wine, you should rinse your mouth with water. Good old H2O would remove the lingering stain compounds on your teeth, making discoloration much less likely. The water would also rehydrate your mouth, given how alcohol tends to dry out your tongue. (If you want, you could also try sipping water alongside your wine; this approach also works.)
No one wants to have wine-stained teeth over the holidays. Given that fact, remember to use the tricks above!
About the Practice
Brown & Nawrocki Restorative and Cosmetic Dentistry is based in Ormond Beach, FL. Led by Drs. Nawrocki and Dennis, our practice always aims to make smiles shine and thrive. We thus offer comprehensive dental care tailored to your needs, with treatments ranging from dental checkups to dental implant surgeries. Whatever ails your grin, rest assured that our team will help! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (386)-677-1046.