It’s a sad truth that coffee and tea do stain your teeth. These commonly enjoyed beverages are highly consumed, maybe solely for taste or that rush of caffeine, but with each blissful sip, the liquid swishing through your mouth leaves stains on your teeth that aren’t simple to remove without extra care.
Does Coffee Stain Your Teeth?
There is no way to disguise this answer, so, simply put…yes. Americans, on average, drink nine pounds of coffee per year per person, and, let’s face it, some of us drink way more than that! A solid tooth whitening regimen is necessary to keep teeth white for most anyone, and nine pounds of coffee annually is not something to scoff at, so let’s visit why coffee stains our once-so-white teeth.
Why Does Coffee Stain Your Teeth?
Tannic acid, or tannin, is a compound found in coffee—and other plants like some leaves, fruits, seeds and bark—and contributes to the bitter taste in coffee but also drives the staining power of this loved beverage. While a coffee bean may look familiar—the small, brown, oblong (and deliciously smelling) roasted bean— it did not begin this way, it was once a whole fruit called a coffee cherry. A huge factor in tannin levels and overall quality of coffee is based on ripeness of the fruit when it is picked. If the coffee cherry hasn’t ripened to a bright, deep red, the coffee will contain more tannin, leaving it very bitter and with more staining ability.
How to Reduce Coffee Stains
Quality of coffee plays a role here. Unripe coffee cherries contain more tannins than ripe cherries; so, not only will there be more tannin that drives teeth stains, but the end product will be more bitter. Some finer coffees are made from coffee cherries which were selectively picked, ensuring they were only picked when fully ripened, opposed to cherries that were strip picked regardless of ripeness. The former is a more labor-intensive process so will certainly cost more to enjoy but may be worth it for sake of taste and tooth staining power.
Dark roast coffee is another option to reduce tooth discoloration. Seems like a bit of a contradiction because you may think the deeper color of dark roast would cause more teeth stains, but the longer the coffee bean is roasted, the more the tannin molecule is broken down. Less tannin equals less staining.
Cold brew coffee is a process where coffee brews at room temperature for roughly 12-16 hours. This method requires no heat. Because of the chemical breakdown in this process versus hot brewing coffee, cold brew contains fewer tannins. This means a weaker ability to stain teeth and a less bitter taste.
Does Tea Stain Your Teeth?
Whether you prefer it hot or cold, tea is an incredibly popular beverage worldwide. In fact, outside of the United States, tea is the second most consumed beverage, falling just below water. In the United States, however, coffee is still consumed at a higher rate. Tea is often bought in a ready to drink form, which people enjoy as a typical cold beverage and may keep stocked in the fridge. Tea is also bought in the more traditional loose leaf form which requires steeping.
So does tea stain your teeth? Sadly, the answer here is yes, and potentially even worse than coffee because it may contain more tannin (like double the amount in some leaves). Sorry, tea lovers! Tannin is still the culprit here for teeth stains and can come in at pretty high levels. Fortunately, there are several varieties of tea - some containing less tannin than others - and options for how you prepare your tea that affect the amount of tannins.
Why Does Tea Stain Your Teeth?
Staining power comes from the same molecules that are the culprits in coffee: tannin. Different tea leaves contain different amounts. Black tea and green tea contain the most tannin, while oolong tea and white tea contain less. Black tea has the highest tannin level because it oxidizes the most, meaning it has the most organic breakdown, leaving behind a dark color and heightened tannin level. There is less oxidation that occurs in oolong and white teas, so fewer tannins and less teeth stains.
How to Reduce Teeth Stains from Tea
Selecting a lighter colored tea will help in this department, as opposed to the darker option we recommended for coffee drinkers. While coffee and tea differ on how they stain your teeth when it comes to their perceived darkness, other factors are quite similar.
Same as cold brew coffee, cold brew tea will contain fewer tannins than hot steeped tea. In the cold brew process, fewer tannins are released. If you have the time, leave your tea to soak in a pitcher full of water, placed in the refrigerator, for 12 or so hours. If you crave a hot beverage, simply warm this up after it has cold brewed!
If you are opting to make a nice, hot cup of freshly steeped loose leaf tea, the amount of time you allow it to steep will affect tannin levels. The less time to steep, the fewer tannins that make their way into your cup.
How to Remove Coffee and Tea Stains from Your Teeth
Now that we’ve covered what part of coffee and tea stain your teeth, and how to help reduce the rate at which it does, it’s time to tell you that staining will occur even with thoughtful practice to reduce its occurrences. Slowing the rate at which teeth staining happens is great, but removing what’s left behind is necessary for your oral health.
Teeth are made of three layers, the outer being enamel, which is what’s outwardly affected by what we eat and drink. Over time teeth stains can work their way into the second layer of your tooth, the dentin, and become much tougher stains to remove; therefore, having a tooth whitening regimen is paramount.
Even on top of ways to make choices with fewer tannins, there’s a few additional things you can do while drinking tea or coffee.
- Drinking through a straw will limit the liquid that comes in contact with your teeth and gives the liquid a more direct path to the back of your mouth.
- Add a little milk to your coffee or tea as this helps dilute tannin levels.
- Rinse out your mouth and/or brush your teeth directly after these loved beverages to give your teeth an immediate clean before stains set in.
It is essential for your oral health to brush your teeth twice daily, floss once daily and see your dentist twice yearly for a cleaning. Coffee and tea stains are more stubborn than some so adding a whitening regimen to your day-to-day will spare you tremendously on stubborn teeth stains. Adding a whitening gel to your preferred toothpaste, twice daily, will truly help keep your teeth looking their best. At your bi-annual cleaning, your dental hygienist will do his or her best to remove the remainder of your stubborn teeth stains to restore their pearly glory.
Believe it or not, tannins are strong enough to dye fabric, and are actually used for that purpose. If tannins can dye a shirt, imagine what these compounds can do to the color of your teeth—yikes! This is a scary thought, for sure, but with proper selection of your preferred beverage and extra tender love and care for your teeth, your smile will stay beautiful and bright!
