Unlike the items found on the Foods to Eat page, you should avoid eating everything listed here to promote healthy, white teeth. The options with the most scientific backing are—as always—listed first. Remember that you can just skim through the headings to get the key information from this page.
1. Dried fruit
While dried figs, prunes, and apricots can be a healthy snack, they are also very sticky. Dried fruits often get stuck in between your teeth leaving behind a lot of sugar which solidifies into plaque.
If you want to continue eating dried fruit, make sure that rinse your mouth with water and brush about 20 minutes afterward.
Better yet, stick with fresh fruit instead as they are less concentrated with sugar and aren't prone to get stuck in your teeth!
2. Citrus and acidic foods
Lemons, oranges, and other sour fruits are high in vitamin C but their acidity can erode enamel making your teeth more vulnerable to decay.
Any acidic food has the negative effect of eroding tooth enamel, so if you're a huge fan of tomato sauce, try limited your consumption as much as possible.
3. Potato chips
Cooked starches, particularly potato starch in products such as potato chips, cling longer to the teeth than many sugar foods, like chocolate bars.
The leftover residue from these starchy products leads to a longer period of acid production [1] which causes erosion of tooth enamel, something everyone should avoid.
4. Ice
According to the American Dental Association, chewing ice makes "your teeth vulnerable to a dental emergency and damage enamel" [1].
Not sure why this had to be stated, but chewing anything particularly hard can damage your teeth. As an aside, you should also not open bottles with your teeth.
5. Carbonated drinks
Sodas can lead to cavities and visible tooth decay [1, 2]. Every time you take a swig of soda, you start a damaging chemical reaction that lasts for about 20 minutes [1]. Over time, these attacks on your teeth will wear them down until your teeth don't look as full as they used to.
If you are going to drink carbonated drinks then drink in moderation, drink quickly, use a straw, and rinse your mouth afterwards.
6. Alcohol
Alcohol is basically everything bad from carbonated drinks made worse by its high sugar content [1].
Red wines stain your teeth shades of gray due to their high levels of tannins and white wine make existing stains darker by creating small holes on the surface of your teeth that allow other stain-causing beverages to seep in.
Ironically, drinking shots might be the best way to prevent tooth decay.
7. Bread
As painful as this is to hear, any starchy carbohydrate like bread, pasta, or crackers can be just as harmful to your teeth as candy is [1].
The starches in these products linger in your mouth and then break down into simple sugars. Bacteria then feed off of these sugars to produce acid which leads to tooth decay.
8. Sour candies
Much like dried fruit, sour candies can get stuck between your teeth and eventually turn into plaque.
Additionally, its sourness can erode the outer layers of your teeth making them appear smaller and yellower [1].
9. Coffee and tea
Coffee contains high levels of tannins and/or acidic polyphenols that discolor your teeth. The acidity of coffee also changes the pH balance in your mouth which can damage your teeth faster.
Tea also contains tannins that damage your teeth. If you drink black tea, it will stain your teeth yellow over time. On the other hand, green tea can stain your teeth gray. But, adding a bit of milk to your tea can reduce its ability to cause staining.
10. Sugary drinks
This is an especially tricky one as many of the drinks we think of as "healthy" like sports drinks are actually full of sugar.
Too much sugar, as many people have come to understand, is the arch-enemy of health and can cause your teeth to slowly decay over time.
If you want to have a sweet drink, try one with low amounts of sugar or one with a sugar alternative like Splenda.
The Perfect Smile