Nobody wants coffee stains on their teeth, but nobody wants to give up drinking coffee either. Drinking coffee everyday can take a toll on your teeth and your smile, but you don’t have to give up your morning coffee to have a mouthful of pearly whites. It just takes some extra hygiene to keep coffee stains from building up on your teeth.
Does Coffee Stain Teeth? Does Coffee Make Your Teeth Yellow?
Unfortunately, I think everyone that drinks coffee knows the answer to this question is yes, definitely. That’s the bad news. The good news is there are a few things we can do to minimize and prevent the staining.
Before you ask, adding creamer does not counteract the staining. It’s seems logical that a lighter colored beverage might not be as bad for your teeth, but that is not the case. Drinking coffee with cream is just as bad for your teeth as drinking black coffee.
How Does Coffee Stain Teeth?
Although your teeth may seem smooth they actually have small ridges and crevices. The pigments and oils from your coffee get into these ridges and stain your teeth.
Preventing Coffee Stains on Teeth
The best thing you can do to prevent coffee from staining your teeth is to brush regularly with a whitening toothpaste. Dentists recommend brushing at least twice per day. Here are two additional things you can do to prevent staining:
- Rinse with water or mouthwash after drinking coffee
- Use a straw if you drink iced coffee
Rinsing with water can help prevent coffee stains on your teeth and is super convenient. If you are out and about, or at work, there’s almost always access to a public restroom or water fountain. Swishing some water around in your mouth and rinsing can help expel some of those teeth staining oils.
Using a straw while drinking your coffee can also keep the harmful oils away from your teeth. I can’t imagin drinking hot coffee with
The Best Toothpaste for Coffee Drinkers
Whitening toothpaste, seems like a no brainer, but what if there was toothpaste specifically designed for those of us with a
Coffee Drinkers’ Whitening Toothpaste
Plus White Coffee Drinkers’ Toothpaste contains special stain removers specifically designed to help coffee drinkers.
I recently started using this toothpaste when my daughter (she’s 6) said I had a yellow smile. I brush and floss regularly and go to the dentist twice per year for cleanings. It had to be
Plus White Coffee Drinkers’ Toothpaste comes in a 3.5 oz tube.
Unfortunately, it is not coffee flavored. It has a cool mint flavor that will fight off coffee breath for hours. I could only find it on Amazon. I checked a few local grocery stores, but I did not have any luck. You can find it here.
Can a Dentist Remove Coffee Stains?
The problem with having a dentist remove coffee stains is that it is expensive. Usually this type of procedure is not covered by insurance, but you can check with your insurance to see if it is. If not, having a dentist remove coffee stains could cost you about 650 dollars and will take up to 90 minutes.
I don’t know anyone that has had the procedure done, but from what I could I find on the internet, the active ingredient used in the treatment by dentists is hydrogen peroxide. You can pick up some peroxide at the store for a dollar or two. Seems like a good opportunity to try a home remedy and compare it to the coffee drinker’s toothpaste.
How to Get Coffee Stains off Teeth Naturally
You can make your own whitening paste by combining hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. The recipes I could find just said to mix the two ingredients to to create a runny paste and brush your teeth with the mixture. Here’s the exact measurements I tried:
- 5 teaspoons of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide
I wanted the mixture to be a little bit on thicker side, more like toothpaste. Just a heads up, it tastes terrible. Maybe adding a few drops of mint extract would help with the flavor. Leave a comment and let me know how it turns out if you try this.
Does this method work? Probably, but it is messy, and gross. For under $10, I’ll stick with the coffee drinkers’ toothpaste.
Does Swishing Coconut Oil Whiten Teeth?
Another natural method to help your teeth and fight staining is coconut oil. You just swish a teaspoon of coconut oil around in your mouth for 10 to 20 minutes. The coconut oil helps to extract food particles, stain causing particles, and bacteria. You just have to be careful not to swallow the oil. The oil will not be good for your body once it is mixed with all the toxic funk that is extracted from your teeth.
The coconut oil method can also be a little inconvenient considering you can’t talk for the time your swishing. The texture also takes a little getting used to, but I’ve used this method when I have gum pain. I find the oil really gets between the teeth, and helps to pull out all the trapped food and bacteria that is sometimes hard to get with just brushing and flossing.
For me, the best way to treat and prevent coffee stained teeth is to rinse with water after drinking coffee, brush regularly with a good whitening toothpaste, floss daily and swish with coconut oil as needed. Follow these steps and you can drink your coffee and smile about it.
