What Stains Teeth Worse: Coffee or Tea?

So What Is It?

Logically coffee seems correct since it's darker.

What Causes Stains in Coffee and Tea?

Four factors in these drinks cause staining: 1) tannin quantity 2) acidic environment 3) darkness of the drink and 4) temperature. The image below shows the level of staining based on those four factors. Staining is more prominent once you start drinking green tea and coffee-shop brews.

The worst stain offender though is actually black tea!

The main staining ingredient in tea is tannin. Though coffee and tea both contain this stimulant, tannin is less prevalent in coffee. Caffeine is coffee's main stimulant that helps you be more alert but has no bearing on teeth staining. The stain part of coffee is highly dependent on the acidity and darkness of the drink. Nearly all types of coffee are acidic between 4.7-6.0 pH. Teeth erode at 4.5 pH when brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and 5.5 pH when using non-fluoride toothpaste. Less protection also occurs when drinking coffee after 12 hours have lapsed from brushing teeth.

The bigger offender is how coffee is consumed. Many people sip on their coffee throughout the day and the constant barrage of acid erodes your enamel by creating rougher surfaces on the teeth for coffee stains to embed into. Black tea in particular can be just as acidic as coffee.

What Benefits Does Adding Milk Provide to Coffee or Tea?

Aggressive stains from coffee or tea need an acidic environment, heat, and tannin. Adding milk has two advantages. It is more alkaline so teeth erode less creating less worn surfaces for stain to hide into. Also the casein molecules in milk readily bind to coffee and tea. This leaves less potential for coffee or tea to stick to teeth. Adding milk will minimize the acidic environment, cavity creation, and make it harder for teeth by binding to the casein milk receptors instead.

8 Tips to Reducing Staining Teeth From Coffee or Tea:

1. Drink white or green tea, chamomile tea, or light roast coffee.

2. Drink coffee or tea cold rather than hot

3. Drink with a straw

4. Add milk to your coffee or tea

5. Drink coffee or tea in one setting and not sipping throughout the day

6. Brush twice a day with toothpaste that has fluoride

7. Clean your teeth professionally at minimum every 6 months

8. The easiest solution to reducing stain--stop drinking coffee and tea altogether