How to remove and prevent speciality coffee stains? We all love a morning brew to begin the start of our day.
If you’re like me, you most likely reading this while you are holding a good brew, and most probably will find yourself having one, or even two more cups of coffee in the next 24 hours.
However much coffee you drink, we all know that without the right cleaning, coffee can be the number one cause of staining, especially to your teeth.
To remove, and prevent coffee stains from your teeth, regular brushing and flossing can help your stains fade, however, implementing easy steps like sipping water between coffees will prevent your teeth from staining in the first place.
In this article, we will explain how to remove coffee stains from teeth without having to face a huge dentist bill.
Table of Contents
Why Does Coffee Stain Your Teeth?
Drinking dark beverages can lead to discolouration of your teeth. This is due to the outer layer of your teeth, known as enamel, becoming stained by pigments that are found in your cup of coffee.
Enamel is the hard outer coating that protects layers of your teeth, which is covered by tiny microscopic gaps. It is these gaps that the pigments from drinking coffee get stuck in, resulting in the outer layer of your tooth becoming discoloured.
Therefore, the longer these pigments stay in those microscopic gaps, the more chance they will start affecting other layers of the tooth, therefore going deeper and deeper, ultimately resulting in staining.
This stage is called intrinsic staining, which is much tougher to clean, therefore, how can we prevent this from happening, and if it’s too late, how can you remove coffee stains from your teeth?
Read: Top 7 Brands Of The Strongest Coffee Beans
How To Prevent Coffee Staining Your Teeth?
So, you haven’t stained your teeth yet with coffee? Maybe you are freaking out every time you drink your morning brew? By implementing some of our steps below, you can now enjoy your coffee guilt-free.
1. Use a Straw
Although a great prevention method, especially over a long period of time, it is not exactly realistic to drink a hot cup of coffee from your straw.
So although a prevention method, we would recommend using this method when you are drinking cold brew coffees. If you generally only drink hot coffee brews then we would recommend using a shorter straw.
2. Add Milk
Most likely one of the easiest ways to prevent coffee stains as you are probably already drinking a lot of your coffee with milk, such as a flat white.
The splash of milk can really make a difference, as well as add calcium and vitamin D to your coffee.
Casein, the main slow-releasing protein found in milk can latch onto the small amounts of tannins found in coffee. Tannis are tiny particles that can leave residue on your teeth.
Therefore, preventing your teeth from staining. It is important to know that dairy milk will reap these benefits compared to other milk alternatives such as soy.
3. Sip Water Between Cups of Coffee
By drinking water between your cup of coffee, you will ensure that any staining particles are washed away before they get stuck on your teeth.
If you can do this almost straight after drinking your coffee, you will find to have better results. Not only would you be cleaning your teeth and preventing staining processes to occur, but you would also be keeping yourself hydrated throughout the day, so it’s a win-win.
4. Drink Your Coffee Quickly
It may seem obvious, however, studies do suggest that the quicker you drink your coffee, the higher your chances of preventing staining to your teeth.
The longer you expose your teeth to coffee, the greater the chance that the tiny particles in coffee will work their bad magic in staining your teeth. We suggest coffees such as espresso or macchiato, as these types of coffees are smaller and easier to consume quickly, however, be careful not to burn yourself.
5. Use Mouthwash After Drinking Coffee
Due to the high acidity in coffee, people often forget that this can result in a build-up of harmful bacteria on your teeth and gums. This bacteria is responsible for many gum diseases, tooth decay, and staining.
A consistent routine of rinsing mouthwash around the mouth and teeth for about 30 seconds after drinking coffee could really help to combat and prevent the negative impact of coffee in the long run, thus preventing staining of your teeth (it can also help to remove staining).
How To Remove Coffee Stains From Your Teeth?
So we know how to prevent staining, what if it is already too late? We dived in and found a few ideas on how to remove coffee stains from your teeth.
1. Brushing
Brushing your teeth with whitening toothpaste is one of the best ways to combat coffee staining on your teeth (as well as prevent it).
To see the best results, brushing your teeth after every coffee or meal would be ideal, however, this is not exactly realistic with day-to-day living, therefore, at least brush your teeth twice daily for around 2-3 minutes.
We recommend brushing your teeth about 20-30 minutes after drinking your coffee, we find this very important, remember coffee is very acidic, and if you brush immediately after drinking, this acidity will weaken your tooth enamel and actually cause staining.
2. Floss
So effective, however, so rarely done. Let’s all be honest with ourselves, it is not very often we floss as much as the dentists say we should.
However, flossing has proven to get rid of plaque, and it is plaque that generally causes and attracts staining, it is then flossing that helps remove any bacteria that is left over after brushing, (adding mouthwash will leave your teeth and mouth even cleaner).
Flossing will also ensure it removes plaque where things like tooth brushing cannot reach, such as under your gum line and smaller gaps between your teeth. However, never use too much force as this may cause cuts and/or bruising to the delicate gum tissue.
If you find flossing difficult as we do, try using AirFloss Rechargeable Power Flosser, you can pick up one of these from Amazon, and it will change your flossing game forever.
3. Chew Sugar-Free Whitening Gum
Of course, this alone isn’t going to remove stains from your teeth, however, a great two-in-one combo where not only will it help remove stains, but it will also combat that not so nice morning coffee breath.
Little do people actually know, chewing gum increases the amount of saliva production in your mouth, which in turn can wash away acids and plaque from your teeth. It has also been studied to prevent tooth decay.
4. Mix Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
Never heard of it? Well in case you didn’t know, this combination is a way to make your own whitening paste from home.
Basically, you can do this by mixing small amounts of baking soda with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, we tried this by using Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide which we found over on Amazon.
The result should be a runny-like paste, but ensure it is not too gritty, (caused by using too much baking soda) as this can damage and/or scrub off your tooth enamel. Overall a cheap and simple solution for removing coffee stains from your teeth.
5. Bleaching Gels/Strips
Bleaching gels and strips can be purchased over the counter at your local pharmacy, although there are many brands, generally, you will not have to spend as much as you would from visiting a dentist.
These can help lighten your teeth, however, it is important to realise that over-the-counter whitening products, such as gels, can take several weeks until you notice results as this method is not as strong as professional and much more expensive treatments.
6. Eat Raw Fruit and Vegetables
Probably one of our favourite methods when asking ourselves how to remove coffee stains from our teeth.
Ongoing research suggests that antioxidants and other nutrients found in fruits and vegetables may fight bacteria and inflammation, all of which protect teeth and gums.
Crisp fruits and raw vegetables like apples and carrots help clean plaque from teeth and freshen breath, thus helping to remove coffee staining.
Recent research into fresh cranberries suggests that this fruit can interrupt the bonding of oral bacteria before it can even form damaging plaque, therefore also preventing the staining of teeth.
Read: 4 Countries With Different Coffee Flavours For Your Taste Buds To Savour
FAQ’S
Q: Are coffee stains on teeth permanent?
A: One of the very best ways to prevent coffee stains on teeth is to remove any remaining coffee residue from your teeth before it has an opportunity to actually permanently stain your teeth.
Q: What is the best toothpaste for coffee stains?
A: Colgate Optic White High Impact Whitening Toothpaste
Q: Does baking soda damage teeth?
A: Since baking soda is the softer material, it is not considered very abrasive and it will not harm tooth enamel
Q: Does hydrogen peroxide whiten teeth?
A: Hydrogen peroxide is an inexpensive household product you probably have on hand right now.
When used carefully, it can be an effective way to whiten your teeth. But if used incorrectly (in concentrations that are too high or if used too often), it can cause serious and sometimes expensive tooth damage.
Conclusion: How to remove coffee stains
It is true, coffee will stain your teeth, like many other dark beverages. However, this will not mean you have to give up your love for coffee in order to have white teeth.
Ensuring on a daily basis you are implementing methods such as brushing regularly, properly flossing and eating healthy raw fruit and vegetables, any current coffee stains will begin to be removed.
However, by taking some of the steps mentioned in this article to prevent staining in the first place, you will never need to worry about serious coffee staining on your teeth again.
Sipping cups of water between coffee to adding milk to your brew, are easy steps to implement for daily coffee drinkers.
No one wants to visit the dentist and come out with a huge bill right? You can remove coffee stains from your teeth yourself, at a fraction of the price, and even in the comfort of your own home.
