If you are like many people, you depend on coffee to get you through your busy days. You may have noticed recently the toll drinking coffee or soft drinks is having on your teeth. Effects such as the ones your sanyo rice cooker is having on your diet when you use it too often! However, there are practical steps you can take to protect your teeth against stains that occur from drinking coffee and other caffeinated drinks.
The first prevention point would be to try and reduce the amount of these drinks you consume! However, if you find that you can not cut down on your daily intake of caffeine, there are other things you can do. For instance, brush your teeth after you have a cup or coffee, tea, or any other caffeinated or colored drink.
If you are not too keen on pulling out your toothbrush each time you have a cup of coffee at the office, take a sip of water. Swish the water around in your mouth. Swish for as long as it would take you to mix cake batter with a kitchen hand mixer. Swooshing around the water in your mouth when you can not brush can remove a lot of the film that is left behind on your teeth from these drinks. This film, if left unwashed, may cause staining.
Crunchy fruits and vegetables can help remove this film as well. Apples, celery and carrots are a few examples of food that can help get rid of this film. These foods should not be soft, like they’ve just come out of a roasting pan, but very firm and crunchy.
Using a straw can help limit the teeth staining effects of these drinks on your teeth. Whenever possible use a straw for your caffeinated drinks. Using a straw will help move the liquid to the back of your mouth quick, limiting the liquid’s contact with your teeth. This may be a more appropriate measure for cold drinks. It is not suitable for hot drinks.
If you can not find a straw, or it can’t be used, swallow your drink fairly quickly. Don’t let it hang out in your mouth, coating your teeth with a stainable film. When you let your teeth hang out in a bath of film for a while, the chances of staining are increased.
An alternative method can also be chewing sugar free gum after meals or drinks. This will help reduce the film build-up on your teeth. Remember; use these tips when brushing is absolutely impossible. Whenever you can, brush your teeth after drinking coffee, tea or other drinks that are bound to stain your teeth. This is the number one method to maintain the color of your teeth.
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