White wine can make tooth stains darker

It has long been known that red wine causes teeth to stain. But white wine? A recent study by dental researchers from New York University found that drinking white wine can also increase the potential for teeth to take on dark stains.

The researchers compared two sets of six cow teeth, whose surface closely resembles that of human teeth, and used a spectrophotometer (an instrument that measures color intensities), to measure the amount of staining.

Teeth which were soaked for an hour in white wine before being immersed in black tea were found to have significantly darker stains than teeth immersed for an hour in water before exposure to the tea.

"Dipping teeth in white wine for one hour is similar to the effect of sipping the wine with dinner," said Dr. Mark Wolff, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cariology & Comprehensive Care at New York University College of Dentistry, who oversaw the study.

"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," Dr. Wolff explained.

Still, red wine continues to beat out white wine when it comes to staining teeth. When the researchers repeated the experiment with red wine, the resulting stains were significantly darker than those in the white wine group.

"Red wine, unlike white, contains a highly-pigmented substance known as chromogen," explained Dr. Wolff. But he added that connoisseurs concerned about staining need not cut back on their consumption.

"The best way to prevent staining caused by wine, as well as other beverages, is to use a toothpaste containing a whitening agent," advised Dr. Wolff.

The findings were presented this week at the annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research in Miami.

This article was published on Fri 3 April 2009