Drinking Coffee and Dental Health

Some dentists, eager to offer patients one more service, warn that coffee stains teeth and produces the dreaded "coffee smile." They claim the dark brown pigments in roasted beans seep into enamel and darken it — the upper front teeth in particular — and that sipping coffee all day keeps your teeth perpetually soaking in stain. Their advice: rinse with plain water right after drinking, since the shorter the exposure, the lower the risk. But for many doctors, this logic doesn't hold up. How long do you actually take to drink a coffee — an hour? A minute? The time coffee spends in your mouth is far shorter than the time tomato sauce (deep red) or carrots (deep yellow) spend there. Lycopene, the deep red carotenoid used as a food coloring, is abundant in watermelon, tomatoes, pink grapefruit, pink guava, red bell peppers, and roses. Millions of people eat tomato sauce every day, yet no dentist has ever warned about a "lycopene smile" — even though lycopene is far more likely to stain than coffee. Dental research shows that smoking and age are the significant factors in extrinsic tooth staining, and that men's teeth stain more readily than women's. Smoking is a major staining factor, and smokers also tend to be coffee drinkers, which muddies the correlation. The measured effects of tea and coffee on tooth staining are not significant. The "coffee smile" is a myth that deserves correcting.

Coffee's Health Benefits for Teeth

Recent studies suggest some coffee drinkers actually have healthier teeth — further evidence that coffee is a genuinely healthy beverage. Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a publication of the American Chemical Society, shows that coffee brewed from roasted beans has antibacterial activity against certain microorganisms, including Streptococcus mutans, the primary bacterium behind cavities. Experiments by scientists at two Italian universities found that certain molecules in coffee prevent S. mutans from adhering to tooth enamel. Gabriella Gazzani, the lead researcher at the University of Pavia, explained: "All solutes in coffee show strong anti-adhesive properties — not only the natural coffee components, but also the molecules generated by roasting." The data points to trigonelline, a water-soluble compound responsible for much of coffee's characteristic aroma and flavor, as "possibly the main substance behind coffee's anti-adhesive activity." Thanks to this antibacterial and anti-adhesive action, coffee may curb the growth of S. mutans on tooth surfaces and help prevent the cavities it causes. So smile, coffee drinkers — and if you're still worried about "coffee smiles," "lycopene smiles," or "carrot smiles," just brush twice a day.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Roasting is where a coffee's final flavor is decided, and three elements must be controlled along the way: acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. The darker the roast, the more bitter and full-bodied the cup; the lighter, the more acidic and delicate. For drinkers chasing balance, medium-roasted beans are the best place to start. If you dislike both sharp acidity and heavy bitterness, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is a natural pick: Yellow Bourbon from the world's largest coffee-producing country, medium roasted to bring out cream, peanut, chocolate, toast, and sugarcane sweetness — equally at home in a pour-over, a moka pot, or an espresso machine.

If you'd rather have something sweeter, try the fruit-forward FrontStreet Strawberry Candy blend, which unites two famous origins — honey-processed Costa Rica and washed Panama Geisha — in a medium roast that pours a cup of orange-blossom honey sweetness with a round, juicy finish; it suits cold brew, pour-over, and espresso alike. For a taste of Chinese specialty, the FrontStreet 2013 Natural Typica delivers classic Yunnan small-grain character — nuts, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot — and works in pour-over, cold brew, or drip machines at excellent value. And at the top of the medium-roast pantheon sits Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1: Typica grown in the Blue Mountains, medium roasted so that acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and body fuse into one elegant, enticing whole, with chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, and caramel unfolding from the very first sip.