Are you a coffee lover but are currently undergoing orthodontic treatment with braces? If so, you may wonder is coffee bad for braces and can you have coffee with braces. The short answer is yes, you can still drink coffee, and braces, in many cases, are not harmed with your morning cup of Joe. However, there are some precautions you should take to protect your teeth and your braces.
One of the biggest concerns with drinking coffee while wearing braces is the potential for staining. Coffee and other dark-colored beverages like tea and soda can stain your braces and teeth if they come into contact with them.
This can be particularly concerning if you have clear or ceramic braces, which are more prone to staining more than traditional metal braces, while they are supposed to be invisible to the naked eye. In our guide, you can learn more about drinking coffee while wearing orthodontic appliances.
By the end, you’ll see how you can still have your daily caffeine fix and avoid stained teeth with proper dental care after drinking coffee or other beverages when wearing Invisalign braces or traditional braces. (Learn How Many Beans In A Cup Of Coffee)
Braces Wearers: What You Need To Know
For both traditional braces, ceramic braces, or Invisalign, avoiding coffee is the best solution, yet not always possible.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how to avoid nasty stains.
1. If You Wear Invisalign Aligners:
- When wearing Invisalign trays’ plastic may become warped if you drink hot coffee or tea. Invisalign aligners are made specifically for your mouth, so you can only achieve optimal orthodontic results if your Invisalign trays remain tight on your teeth.
- Both your teeth and trays might become stained with coffee, tea, red wine, and soda. These stains defeat the invisibility of Invisalign, which is almost invisible to the unaided eye.
- Remove the Invisalign trays before drinking if you still wish to sip soda, red wine, coffee, or tea. Before putting them back in, don’t forget to clean them.
- Using a straw to consume iced coffee or tea may help to prevent coffee stains.
Note: Invisalign is almost invisible to the naked eye, so that any stains will show immediately.
2. If You Are Wearing Traditional Braces:
Coffee, tea, red wine, and soda tend to discolor the brackets and rubber bands when you wear traditional braces. Your teeth may become stained as well.
If you still decide to consume coffee, tea, red wine, or soda, follow it up with a mouthwash or water rinse. Using a straw to drink soda, drinking iced coffee or iced tea may help prevent stains.
If you discover drinking iced coffee or iced tea or find staining exists after wearing orthodontic braces, you might need a tooth whitening procedure to get a healthy smile and a straight smile in one go.
Brewed or Drinking Iced Coffee With Braces
Braces are a significant investment in your smile and oral health. Your time, work, and patience is also invested in obtaining a healthy smile. As a teen or adult, dentists may advise Invisalign over conventional metal braces over Invisalign if you drink coffee or sugary drinks.
Anyone who does drink coffee should cut back if they don’t want coffee stains. So, if you drink coffee and have braces, it can be time to cut back before starting treatment. (Read Does Cold Brew Coffee Expire)
Dangers of Coffee and Braces:
Drinking coffee or other hot beverages with braces produces cosmetic issues, as you might expect. Coffee is very pigmented and can stain your teeth and braces during treatment, giving you a dingy smile that draws attention to your orthodontic treatment.
Worse, coffee affects the appearance and leaves the impression you don’t brush your teeth, even though you do. Coffee can also demineralize teeth, a concern of traditional braces. Before getting braces, coffee drinkers must cut back.
Do I Need To Quit Coffee?
If you are sure you don’t want any coffee stains, quitting coffee can be the best solution. If you can’t quit coffee and going cold turkey is too much of a challenge, make drinking coffee or your iced tea a treat rather than a regular event.
Again, using a straw for your fruit juices or iced tea can help reduce stains through less caffeine on your front teeth, although straws are not ideal for hot coffee or drinking red wine.
Can You Drink Tea With Braces?
Tea may not appear as strong as black coffee, yet it can still stain. Here are some tips on how to drink lemon-flavored sports drinks, tea, and coffee and ensure you don’t stain your teeth or your clear braces.
Note: Coffee and, even more so, sports drinks are naturally acidic, so the following tips are reasonable first steps to avoiding stains and caring for your teeth.
Add Milk To Coffee
How your coffee stains your teeth and clear braces depend on its color. By adding milk to your hot coffee or other beverages, you can brighten the color of the black coffee and protect your tooth enamel from the coffee’s acidic stains, and prevent tooth decay in the process.
Drink Coffee With Less Caffeine
Caffeine is a major factor in making coffee a part of your morning routine. However, the amount of caffeine in your coffee determines how the stains defeat your cleaning efforts.
However, the less caffeine a drink contains, the less probable it is to discolor your teeth and damage your braces. To keep teeth clean and maintain the tooth structure, you can drink decaf coffee or beverages with less caffeine than traditionally brewed coffee.
You won’t get your daily caffeine fix this way, but you will drink coffee without risking damage to your braces.
If You Wear Braces, Brush Your Teeth After Drinking Coffee
The coffee that sticks to your teeth after you drink and doesn’t touch them can discolor them over time. This is why, if you can’t make yourself, clean your teeth immediately to get rid of any coffee staining if you must drink coffee while wearing braces.
You can accomplish this by carrying a toothbrush with you wherever you go at all times. To keep that gorgeous smile intact, mouthwash immediately if possible is also an excellent idea. (Learn How Long Can Coffee With Creamer Sit Out)
Other Drinks To Avoid When Wearing Braces
1. Tea
Tea and iced tea are much like coffee and are pigmented. So they will stain clear elastic bands or brackets and also your teeth.
2. Soda
Even if you are not wearing braces, soda is one of the unhealthiest drinks and shouldn’t be frequently ingested.
This drink includes acid, which can erode tooth enamel and cause dental decay. If you decide to drink soda while wearing braces, make sure you do so through a straw and immediately after you’ve finished.
Sports drinks are sugary and comprise acidic, sucrose-rich fruit juices. These compounds harm tooth structure and cause decay.
3. Red Wine
Red wine and coffee both stain teeth. This is so that your brace and teeth don’t get stained, as red wine contains tannin, acids, and natural dyes. If you drink red wine, clean your teeth straight away to keep your mouth healthy.