Oral hygiene is key to keeping your teeth white. Regular dental visits, brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash are well-documented, effective ways to keep our teeth healthy and white.

Avoiding certain foods is another important and often overlooked way in which we can avoid yellow teeth or discolouration.

Our teeth are like sponges. Many people do not understand that our teeth have pores. These pores are filled in with whatever substance we put into our mouths. A lot of focus is put on cleaning and bleaching our teeth, while not enough emphasis is placed on what penetrates and sits in the pores of our teeth.

Food and Drinks to Avoid

Eliminating certain foods entirely from your diet can be problematic and super inconvenient to do. We suggest brushing and flossing a maximum of 30 minutes after eating or drinking - no matter what you choose to ingest.

Certain foods contain high acidity levels, dark colours, and deep pigmentation or artificial colour. These seep into the pores of our teeth and can cause darker and quicker teeth discolouration. Acidic food eats away the enamel that protects our teeth.

Avoiding these, or brushing your teeth immediately after consumption of teeth staining food, can alleviate teeth discolouration:

• Coffee: This may be a difficult one to avoid, as many of us start our day with our favourite mug of brew. One hack is to add milk to our coffee. This lowers the acidity in the coffee, thus lessening the staining effect.

• Tea: Tea has a habit of staining teeth long term. Follow the same tip as with coffee if tea cannot be cut out of your diet. Soft drinks It is not only the colouring here that stains teeth, but the acidic carbonation or fizziness in them. Avoid these at all costs.

• Red Wine: The acidity and colour in red wine makes it a high risk drink. The acidity in all wine can weaken the enamel in teeth making them susceptible to other staining foods. Brush immediately after drinking.

• Balsamic vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce:  The colouring and acidity in these condiments help discolour teeth. Avoid if possible.

• Sweets :Along with potential cavities, sweets also bring the risk of discolouration of your teeth.

• Berries: Although very healthy, the acid in fruits can weaken the enamel in our teeth. Try to avoid them if possible. Brush immediately after eating them if it cannot be avoided.

Conclusion

Keeping our teeth white is and will be a constant battle. Avoiding teeth staining foods is a huge key, but cannot always be avoided. Basic oral hygiene, such as multiple daily flossing and brushing, can help alleviate some of the staining our teeth endure daily.

Do-it-yourself teeth whitening kits are another inexpensive and effective way in which we can keep our pearly whites, all while avoiding the expensive visit to the dentist.

These are often overlooked as ways in which we can still eat and drink some of the above listed guilty pleasures, without having to pay too much for a professional to whiten our teeth.