Turmeric stain teeth

Does turmeric stain teeth and dental work?

Turmeric stain teeth and dental work and that’s the bottom line.

Spices stain teeth and dental appliances – turmeric stain teeth, curry stains teeth, anything with turmeric in it stains teeth!

I have personal experience with this from trying to eat curry, which has turmeric in it. My Invisalign trays would always permanently stain whenever I ate curry chicken if I wore that aligner while eating, which breaks the rule of no eating with your aligner in. It only took me two or three times to stop doing that, I’m a slow learner :)! The stain would not come out and I had to jump to the next tray in my series.

Turmeric also stains temporary dental crowns as one of my young patients found out after having a single turmeric drink while wearing her temporary crown. As you can see one turmeric drink really does stain! This is a plastic temporary dental crown so it does take color more than other products we use but it shows the staining strength of turmeric.

turmeric stain teeth

One turmeric drink stained this temporary crown this darkly!

Turmeric will stain composite white fillings and researchers like Bindal 2015 use turmeric as a staining agent in studies. I can only speculate that turmeric will also heavily stain other plastic acrylic dental products we use, which would include dentures, some dental implant components, and almost anything temporary.

 

Can turmeric whiten your teeth?

No but since it is abrasive, it will clean your teeth. It also has antiseptic properties and according to Anuradha 2016 may possibly help to fight periodontal disease. However, as far as whitening your teeth it will do just the opposite. There are probably a thousand other pseudo whitening products out there that would do a better job than this.  The abrasiveness of turmeric might remove some external stain but so does anything that is even slightly abrasive.  Don’t forget abrasive things aren’t just removing stain but some tooth as well. It’s not a good idea to use abrasive products on your teeth on a regular basis. In fact the RDA (Relative Dentin Abrasivity) is a factor one should consider when choosing a toothpaste.

The claim is that if you mix turmeric powder with some other products that it will help whiten your teeth. Perhaps the other products will whiten your teeth but turmeric isn’t helping in that regard. You are better of using hydrogen peroxide product or perhaps a baking soda product to get whiter teeth. All spices stain teeth and the yellow spices are the worst. Turmeric might be the worst staining food on the planet, so please stain away from it when looking for a whitening product.

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13 Responses to “Turmeric stain teeth”

  1. March 16, 2019 at 3:16 am #

    I was told turmeric mix would whiten my teeth. No. Did not happen. If anything it stained my teeth yellow. I am now going to get a whitening tooth paste since I can’ afford a professional whitening.

    • March 17, 2019 at 6:36 pm #

      Yes I have seen that online and it’s flat out crazy. Tumeric is one of the most staining products there is. Professional whitening is not needed. You can get just at white with whitening strips from the store. Whitening toothpaste also will whiten but very slowly. Professional whitening just works faster.

  2. March 25, 2019 at 12:51 pm #

    Is there any way to get the tumeric stain out? I just got my temporaries on Friday, and have to wear them for 3 weeks. I have a wedding to go to and am feeling very self conscious. Please tell me there is something that can be done?

    • March 25, 2019 at 2:17 pm #

      It goes away pretty quickly on it’s own. I would try hydrogen peroxide mouth rinse.

  3. March 25, 2019 at 6:27 pm #

    Thank you for the advice. I’ve tried a hydrogen rinse a couple times since last night. It’s helped just a bit, but they are still pretty yellow(at least they aren’t neon any more). Will it take a bit for it to keep removing the yellow tint, or am I stuck with it?

  4. June 12, 2019 at 4:35 am #

    hey there!!! thank you, Doctor for all the info. I have ceramic veneers. For more than a year now, I have been adding this home-made turmeric and olive oil dressing to my food. And, it was ok teeth-wise. But, now, for a couple of weeks, I’ve been drinking this turmeric-lemon shot in the morning, every morning … and I am afraid, it’s yellowed my ceramic-veneers!!! pleeeaaase help!!! do I need to run to my dentist (she is gonna kill me, indeed) what shall I do? looking forward to hearing from you soon and thanking you in advance for your time and consideration – best regards from Argentina!!!
    ps: what about ACV? is it bad also for teeth-color?

    • June 12, 2019 at 9:39 pm #

      The stain will come off, it just takes some time. Do not know about ACV.

  5. June 13, 2019 at 12:00 am #

    thank you so much dR, for the prompt reply. So… it’s about patience… that’s it, isn’t it? TKS!

    • June 13, 2019 at 7:49 pm #

      Mostly but we can polish some of it off for you. Well not us but a local dentist

  6. July 18, 2019 at 4:45 pm #

    So Turmeric tooth stains will come off ? I just started drinking powder turmeric in water for health benefits and now I am worried about permanent tooth stains.

    • July 22, 2019 at 7:58 pm #

      Yes. It may take some time or someone like a dental professional using their polishing equipment to handle it though.

  7. August 14, 2019 at 2:17 am #

    I am so glad you posted this!! I just tried a dentist closer to home today to gather information on the cosmetic work I want (whitening & filing a tooth) once my braces come off. The doctor kept saying my composite fillings were very old and when I explained they weren’t even 2 years old, her next response is no they’re old and probably decaying. Omg! My first 2 cavities ever in my 30 years of life was after I had my first child -so I think it’s safe to say my dental hygiene isn’t bad. I explained to her that I ate a lot of turmeric and curry in general…. However she just emphasized they were old and should be replaced. SMH!

    • August 14, 2019 at 2:58 pm #

      Yes that will do it. Time without those things or a polishing will take care of it.

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