4 Foods to Avoid After Teeth Whitening

When you’ve just had teeth whitening, it’s easy to think your smile is invincible. After all, your pearly whites are finally living up to their nickname! The treatment’s effectiveness can make you believe your tooth enamel will never get stained again. However, that idea isn’t correct. You’ll need to avoid certain foods to ensure your whitened teeth stick around for a while. Read on to learn four kinds you should cut from your diet for the time being.

Tomatoes

Whether as a paste, sauce, or its usual form, tomatoes don’t favor whitened teeth. Though usually a healthy food choice, their acidity and coloring can stain your enamel. In fact, said acid can trigger sensitivity to hot or cold foods in the days after treatment. Needless to say, you shouldn’t add marinara to your spaghetti over the next week or so.

Dark Sauces

As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t have anything that would stain a white shirt post-whitening. Unfortunately, that includes dark sauces.

You see, soy sauce, mustard, and other dark sauces are heavily pigmented. As a result, they can quickly stain teeth brown or yellow. If you need to flavor your meal, try to find lighter-colored condiments. Better yet, try seasonings like salt and pepper.

Blueberries

Most nutritionists emphasize blueberries as a superfood. Packed with antioxidants and other nutrients, they’re highly recommended by physicians.

Even so, they aren’t great for white teeth. Not only do they have plant pigments, but they’re also acidic. These traits make them quite likely to stain your enamel a dark color.

Feel free to enjoy blueberries a week or so after your teeth whitening. Until then, though, apples are the safer fruit choice.

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Most know balsamic vinegar as a salad dressing that makes plain lettuce tastier. However, it also packs a punch on the color of your teeth.

For starters, balsamic vinegar has a dark color. Like the sauces mentioned above, that means it has heavy pigmenting. Even worse, it tends to stick to teeth. As a result, the dressing often darkens teeth if not washed away quickly.

You’ll soon be able to have these foods again, but be careful in the meantime. You don’t want your newly-whitened smile to go to waste too soon.

About the Author

Dr. LJ Adam is a dentist based in Worthington, PA, having earned his DMD from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine He’s practiced in the field for 15 years thanks to guidance from his dentist parents. His specialties are preventive, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry, as well as emergency dental treatments. Dr. Adam currently practices at Adam Associates Family Dental and is reachable at his website or by phone at (724)-297-3446.