It's one thing to love drinking wine, so much so that people probably think you're an alcoholic, but getting wine-stained teeth is a whole new problem. Let me assure you that this is generally not a good look, and I'm sure many of you wine-drinkers out there will agree with me on this.
So why does this happen, and how can we prevent getting wine-stained teeth? And why do some people get wine-stained teeth while others don't?
It ultimately boils down to the porous enamel we have in our teeth. There are several things that can discolour our enamel:
1. Colours and Pigments
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Chromogens, are intensely coloured pigment-producing substances abundant in red wine. They can cling onto our enamel and stain our teeth. The tannins in red wine also helps chromogens to bind to our teeth, ultimately causing those unattractive stains which we are so eager to hide.
2. Acidity of Wine
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White wine can also stain your teeth. Since it is highly acidic in comparison to red wine, it ends up wearing out the enamel (the white part of your teeth), which causes more dentin (the yellow part of your teeth) to show.
3. Wear and Tear
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As we get older, our teeth start to develop cracks. These cracks make it easier to absorb chromogens and tannins from wine. The result? We're left with wine-stained teeth. The problem with this is that teeth in such conditions are often difficult to clean, and as a result, dentists use carbamide peroxide.
But there's a plus side
All of us have varying degrees of porosity in our tooth enamel – in general, younger people are more porous enamel than older people. As such, our tooth enamel gets harder as we age, so it is less likely for it to be more porous which means that we are less susceptible to getting wine-stained teeth.
What does this mean?
If you're a college-going student, keep guzzling that wine you've been thinking about! After all, I do admit that I am a wine girl, and nothing feels more satisfying that staying at home on a cold night and watching Netflix while enjoying a glass of wine.
If you're not a college student, don't worry. Just follow these four Ways to Prevent Wine Stains on Your Teeth.
On that note, start preparing yourselves for the weekend ahead, sans wine-stained teeth.