7 Clever Tricks for Keeping Your Teeth Free From Wine Stains, According to a Dentist

No matter how much you brush, floss, and rinse, sometimes our teeth don’t look quite as bright as we’d like. And that’s okay! There are plenty of preventative measures we can take to keep our teeth white when sipping wine—and if you see some stains, we have solutions for that, too.

We consulted Jeffrey Sulitzer, DMD, for his top tips on preventing (and erasing) wine stains on our teeth. These easy tricks will give you plenty to smile out, just in time for summertime wine sipping!

Brush before you go out

Brushing your teeth before you uncork your bottle will ensure there is no plaque or tartar on your teeth. Because red wine tends to cling to the film of plaque, failing to remove it before you imbibe will worsen stains.

Eat cheese

Sign us up! Eating cheese allows calcium to build up on your teeth, and it closes the tiny micro-pores on the surface—which makes it more difficult for wine to stain your teeth.

Don’t start with white if you’ll be drinking red later

A smart and surprising trick. Apparently, the high acid in white wine erodes your enamel and can act as a primer, making the red wine tannins cling to your teeth more. If you’ll be drinking red, start with it and then stick with it.

Sip on sparkling, too

Drinking seltzer water between glasses of wine can prevent wine from lingering on your smile. The bubbles have the ability to loosen up and scrub away the stains.

Brush afterwards

Give your teeth a quick brush and thorough rinse after every meal and wine-sipping session. In addition to stopping stains, this is extremely important to long-term dental health.

Floss daily

You knew this was coming. “Maintaining the strength of your teeth and enamel is imperative to avoiding discoloration,” Dr. Sulitzer says.

Whiten the right way

There are endless options of teeth whitening products on the market, but Dr. Sulitzer swears by the Bright On system from Smile Direct Club ($49, amazon.com). It’s a professional-grade system you can use at home—in as little as one week, the dentist says this light-and-whitening-pen tool will remove years worth of set-in stains.

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