A dentist has revealed which of four popular drinks stain teeth the most, and claimed he was ‘shocked’ by the results.
Dr Miles Madison, a dentist based in Beverly Hills California, took four extracted teeth and soaked them for 10 days in either coffee, tea, Coke or red wine.
Posting the results on TikTok, Dr Madison, who goes by the name ‘the gumfather’ on social media, said he ‘wasn’t ready’ to see the shocking effect red wine had on a tooth.
Lifting the cup, he revealed a tooth that had been dyed almost entirely purple by the alcoholic beverage.
‘Red wine stained the whole tooth. It stained the enamel, the root, the whole thing,’ he said.
‘Red wine definitely causes the most amount of staining.’
A cup of Coca Cola also had a dramatic effect on a tooth not only staining it a dark shade but actually eating away at its structure creating small ‘pits’.
Dr Madison credited this to the fizzy favourite’s acidic properties.
A dentist has revealed which of four popular drinks stain teeth the most, and says he was ‘shocked’ by the results
Revealing the result, he said: ‘Coke not only stained the tooth really dark but it caused these little pits because the acid kind of ate away the enamel and also part of the root structure.’
Tea beat coffee in the battle of the morning brews with the former resulting in the least amount of staining.
Revealing the result for coffee Dr Madison showed how the crown had turned a yellow shade and the root a deep brown.
‘It’s significantly darker than when we started and especially the root surface, which doesn’t have as much mineral as the enamel, got really stained,’ he said.
In contrast the results for tea, while similar, weren’t as dramatic with the root turning a lighter shade of brown.
‘It did stain as well but not as bad (as coffee). You can see the root got much more stained than the enamel,’ Dr Madison said.
Social media users said they too were shocked by the results.
‘Oh hell no, but these are my favourite beverages,’ one wrote.
‘Guess I’m ordering a water next time,’ wrote another.
Other users suggested Dr Madison repeat the experiment with different drinks such as beer, to which the dentist replied he would try that ‘next time’.
The experiment doesn’t reflect real life conditions, as people don’t commonly soak their teeth in a liquid for 10 hours straight.
However, popular drinks like coffee, tea and wine, as well as other habits like smoking, are well known to stain teeth.
In most cases, staining is purely a cosmetic issue and doesn’t indicate any problems with the teeth itself and can remove most stains.
But persistent yellow teeth can be a sign that people are brushing too quickly after consuming acidic food like fruit or drinks, such as Coca Cola.
This is because acidic items can weaken the white enamel in teeth for a short period.
If teeth are brushed in this weakened state, it can reveal the slightly more yellow part of the tooth called dentin, changing the overall hue.
Certain medications, like the antibiotic tetracycline, are also known to change the colour of teeth due an interaction with saliva that turns teeth brown or grey.
While most colour changes in teeth are nothing to worry about, dentists advise people to keep an eye out for one change in particular.
They say that if a tooth, or sometimes multiple teeth, turn grey it can be a sign of nerve damage, and this should be flagged with a dentist.
