Tea Stains Teeth – Do I Have to Stop Drinking It?

While not as bad as coffee or red wine, unfortunately that lovely morning cup of tea stains teeth like nobody’s business. As many people are concerned about having white teeth and avoiding stains and discoloration, you may like to know if you can still enjoy that morning pick-me-up and not have to put the dentist’s kids through college as a result.

Tea stains teeth due to an acid that naturally occurs in its makeup, tannin or tannic acid. This acid breaks down or causes small openings like pores in the enamel of the teeth. These small openings allow the strong pigment of the tea to leech into the tooth, and cause strong stains deep in the enamel.

But does this mean you have to give up tea if you want to keep a bright white smile? Luckily, you don’t. There are a few different options you can try which should help you keep that those teeth beautiful and also enjoy your daily cup of tea.

One thing your can try is other varieties of tea. Green and white tea contain ingredients that are actually beneficial to teeth and enamel, so changing your tea to one of these varieties can help reduce the occurrence of stains.

You can also try adding milk to your tea, this is a popular way to drink it and helps dilute it a little and slow down the staining agents.

Another option is to try drinking cold or iced tea. Heat is a contributing factor to how fast tea stains teeth, so cold tea is less effective at causing stains. Additionally, you can drink cold tea with a straw, which helps bypass a lot of teeth when you drinking it.

The best thing you can do is brush immediately after drinking tea, or you can chew sugarfree gum. Never swish the tea around in your mouth, and at the very least, drink a little water right after your tea to wash away some of the tea still in the mouth and on the teeth.

Tea Stains Teeth – Do I Have to Stop Drinking It? by Brian T. Johnson