8 Foods to Avoid After Using Dental Whitening Products

The quest for a perfect smile has always been focused on ways to showcase teeth in a beautiful, gleaming shade of white.

In fact, a survey from 2015 found that over 80% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 49 wanted whiter teeth.

For many years, though, having perfect pearly whites was only an option for movie stars or those with enough money to pay for in-office dental whitening procedures.

Off-white, antique white, and a multitude of yellow tones were the remaining hues left to the rest of the world that didn’t have the money nor the resources to freshen up their grin.

But, those days are long gone!

Thanks to Crest, the world has been given the opportunity to create the perfect smile with their popular line of teeth whitening strips.

The only detriment to these miracle working sticky strips of whitening power?

Food and beverages.

The world is finally offered a convenient, cost-effective, and efficient way to whiten teeth naturally, but sadly, two processes of human survival – eating and drinking – are jeopardising that beautiful, white smile.

However, all is not lost.

Avoiding a few foods can help keep the bright white look created from using dental whitening products.

8 Foods to Avoid after Using Dental Whitening Products

Sure, it’s a known fact that tobacco, wine, coffee, tea, soda, and other dark liquids such as juices can stain tooth enamel.

However, these are not the only culprits that rob the teeth of their amazing, whitening potential.

Here are a few foods to consider avoiding while using dental whitening products:

Anything Acidic

Any food or beverage containing acidic ingredients can wreak havoc on any set of enamel, regardless of teeth whitening status.

Pretty much, every type of vinegar (including those found in salad dressings and marinades), most citrus juices, tomato sauces, most sports drinks, and vitamin water are all things that can eat away at any tooth’s enamel.

So, it’s not surprising that these things can affect the teeth whitening process.

Avoiding these types of beverages, ingredients, and foods is one of the most important steps to take while using dental whitening products.

Dark Berries

Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, oh my!

Berries are some of the most fabulous fruits on the planet, which makes this a tough group of food items to avoid! They’re delicious, healthy, and make unbelievable smoothie ingredients!

However, these deliciously dark berries can cause some serious staining issues on freshly whitened teeth. In fact, next to tobacco, wine, and coffee – these edible items probably have the most detrimental effect on teeth while using dental whitening products.

Cheesy Chips

Ah yes, the delicious faux cheese covered chips that are dangerously delicious and addicting! Cheese doodles, cheese balls, nacho cheese tortilla chips and pretty much any and every other processed cheese covered snack are a definite no-no during the teeth whitening process.

Think of how hard it is to get that delicious, fake cheese off fingers while eating? And, if anyone remembers the days when they had braces – it’s not hard to remember how long that cheese residue would stick to the brackets!

Until teeth have reached their maximum shade of desired whiteness, try to avoid these cheesy treats.

Dark Sauces

White pizza, fettuccine alfredo, and any other light-colour-sauced meal may be the saving grace needed during the teeth whitening process.

Eliminating dark sauces such as marinara, soy, pesto, stroganoff, as well as any other sauce that is darker than a light shade of, well, white – is best while trying to get that grin to gleam.

Red Meat

Many doctors will probably appreciate this aspect of the teeth whitening process.

Studies show that eating too much red meat is not the most beneficial suggestion for overall health.

Try to minimise the amount of red meat consumed during the whitening process.

Chilli

A good chilli cook-off is always a treat. Eating amazing homemade chilli on a cold, rainy day serves as a feel-good meal for many people.

However, while working to make those teeth a brilliant shade of white, hold off on making this meal.

Due to the acidic nature of the main ingredients (tomato sauces, pastes, and tomatoes themselves), as well as the presence of red meat – this meal serves up a double whammy of staining damage, especially while using dental whitening products.

If it’s cold, rainy, and the family is in dire need of a delicious crock pot full of chilli – consider making white chilli. This way, the acidic and stain-inducing tomato ingredients can be avoided and the teeth can continue on their merry path to white and bright status.

Popsicle’s

These delicious, icy treats are the perfect addition to any hot day. However, there are a number of flavors that should absolutely be avoided when trying to chase the yellow, stained hues from tooth enamel.

Any flavor that could stain clothing or linens should be avoided while trying to de-stain teeth.

Stick to the lemons, limes, Pina Coladas, and any other light coloured tropical flavors if a popsicle fix is needed.

Chocolate

Don’t stress out completely. Not all chocolate is the same.

White chocolate is an okay substitution while trying to whiten teeth, but it’s best to avoid dark and milk chocolate when using dental whitening products.

Ensuring a Glowing Grin While Whitening

There is a strong possibility that it may be near impossible to avoid eating these foods altogether. However, the more these delicious snacks and meals are avoided during the whitening process the better the results will be while using dental whitening products.

If consuming any of these teeth-staining food products during the whitening weeks, remember to do the following to prevent re-staining:

• Brush teeth immediately (or as soon as possible) after eating the staining food in question
• Use a straw to drink any stain-inducing beverages
• Rinse mouth after consuming anything on this list

Once those pearly whites are gleaming and glistening, it’s okay to reincorporate many of these food items back into the daily diet. However, make sure to brush, rinse, and re-treat as needed.

After the Whitestrips work their magic, remember to smile as much as possible. There is something wildly fulfilling about a beautiful set of pearly white teeth.