“Pale plonk packs an acidic punch!” say the BBC. Well, it does and it doesn’t. It also depends on the types of wine grapes as to how acidic the wine is and how long the wine is held in the mouth, as to how much damage is done. For example, wine tasters and merchants that can sample around 50 wines a day, holding the wine in their mouth for around 60 seconds are more likely to suffer from erosion than the typical wine drinker.
Teeth in red wine
So what does White wine actually do to teeth?
It should be pointed out that the erosion of teeth by wine is the result of extensive wine use that would also lead to damaged liver and all sorts of other problems. The typical wine drinker who sips a glass of wine at dinner or with their evening meal should not be ‘scared off’ by the tooth decay headlines, remember 100 year old women in Italy swear that wine was the secret of their longevity.
Close up of white teeth
White wine stains teeth:
I think that anyone who has drank a few glasses of Red would agree that, yes, it does. But have you ever thought how? “Red wine, unlike white, contains a highly-pigmented substance known as chromogen,” explained Dr. Wolff of the New York University College of Dentistry, they goes on to explain that “The acids in wine create rough spots and grooves that enable chemicals in other beverages that cause staining, such as coffee and tea, to penetrate deeper into the tooth”.
Notice that Dr Wolff said wine and not simply White wine, all wine has the ability to cause dental erosion, only Red wine has the added ability to show this on your teeth.
woman brushing her teeth
How can you stop this erosion?
1) Alkaline mouthwashes are highly recommended
2) Proper brushing of your teeth with a soft tooth brush is encouraged.
3) Drinking with food is also a good idea as acidic food starts a natural reaction called tooth remineralisation—a salivary function that’s helps restore the teeth’s balance.
4) To help the remineralisation work, wait 30 mins after eating before brushing your teeth.
5) Cheese can also help as it contains calcium in a high concentration
I hope this is helped a little towards taking away the fear factor of White wine.
Think I need a drink after all that
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm and is filed under News, Red Wine, Wine, Wine News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 18th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I think that the drinking water jets are a great way to aid battle gum disease. I have receding gums and my dentist tells me that it is quite important to floss every single day, twice each day if possible. So I do and it does assist greatly in preserving my teeth from turning into inflamed. The jets may also flush out foods and bacteria among the teeth and all-around the gum line. It will get down in between the gums and tooth also, to help apparent out everything within the tooth pocket, which can be the reason gums get inflamed. So yes, I’d say it is a great way to keep your gums healthful. I’d examine with your dentist for their recommendations for which one to have. I’ve a extremely old a single, and am looking to upgrade myself.