23 September 2022
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

The main reason that people whiten their teeth is for an improvement in their appearance. The whiter your smile, the more pleasing it is to other people. As such a teeth whitening session is something that many people undergo when they have a healthy social life. If your social life involves parties and alcohol, you may be wondering if alcohol is ok for you to drink after teeth whitening.

Although you can drink alcohol after whitening your teeth, you still need to take some precautions.

Drink light-coloured alcoholic beverages

When you whiten your teeth – whether at home or at a dental clinic – the pores in your teeth remain open for a day or so afterwards. The whitening agents can better penetrate your teeth when the pores in your teeth are open. While this won't harm your teeth, you do need to avoid foods and drinks with dark pigments in them. So stay away from dark-coloured drinks like:

• Red wine
• Beer
• Bitter
• Whiskey
• Brandy
• Scotch
• Cocktails with dark fruits

The staining molecules in these dark alcoholic drinks will penetrate the open pores in your newly whitened teeth and stain them. As such, for the first few days, just to be sure, stick to light-coloured alcoholic beverages like gin and vodka.

Acidic alcoholic beverages might cause you pain

Although white wine is clear, it is acidic, which is why you should avoid white wine until the pores in your whitened teeth close after one or two days. This is especially true if your teeth were already sensitive before your whitening treatment. Instead of white wine, consider drinking gin, which is only moderately acidic. That way, you won't be wincing after every mouthful of your beverage.

Remember that alcohol affects your self-control

Perhaps the worst thing about drinking alcohol after whitening your teeth is that alcohol can affect your level of self-control, especially if you become quite drunk. Even slightly drunk, you might make poor decisions in regard to food and drink choices during or after a party. The last thing you want to do is to wake up and realize that your whitening treatment has suffered due to the meal from the night before.

Wait a day or two just to be sure

To be sure that your newly whitened teeth won't suffer due to alcohol consumption, wait a day or two before you touch alcohol. Once the pores in your teeth close, you won't need to be so careful about what you drink.

For more information, contact a teeth whitening professional near you.