Updated September 09, 2014.

Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.

 Your smile is one of the first things people look at when they meet you. A bright healthy smile can increase your wow factor at an interview, a date, or just day to day life. Being self conscious about your smile can make you hide it and not use the potential of this easy quick ice breaker. Some of us have been born with an awesome smile, and some of us have had the benefit of cosmetic dentistry to perfect that smile.

Either way, maintaining it is important and keeping it white is one of the easiest ways to keep that sparkle. 

Many different foods and drinks can stain our teeth and smile, taking away from its brightness. These are some drinks to avoid or have in moderation to keep your smile healthy and bright for years to come.

1. Coffee. Coffee is one of the biggest culprits of yellowed teeth. If you are a daily coffee drinker, try drinking it through a straw to keep the coffee from hitting your front teeth. Doing this regularly can actually help some of the stains appear behind your teeth instead of in front of them. Coffee stains are surface stains and can easily be removed with some whitening or a dental cleaning. 

2. Tea. Tea can actually stain more than coffee and even green tea can be staining. One of the ways to avoid this kind of staining is to drink water immediately after drinking tea. Another trick is to drink the tea all at once instead of sipping it all day long. This will allow your saliva to wash out the tannins from the tea.

Sipping the tea will keep re-introducing the staining tannins every time you take a sip, not allowing your saliva to naturally rinse them out.

3. Red Wine. Red wine has many health benefits but can stain your teeth with continued use. Some wine tasters will actually coat their teeth with vaseline or glycerin to avoid staining their teeth. An easy way to avoid red wine stains is to either limit use or drink water after drinking red wine. You can also switch to white wine which is less staining. 

4. Dark Soda. Dark soda has many smile stealing qualities in it, one of which is staining your teeth. The recommendation would be to avoid all dark sugary sodas, but if you are going to drink it, rinse your mouth with water or a mixture of water and baking soda to help neutralize the acids that are in soda. The highly acidic quality of soda can wear away your enamel permanently removing the whiter part of your teeth, leaving the more yellow under layer exposed. 

5. Citrus Juices. Citrus juices, like orange juice, can be very acidic and wear away your enamel (the white outer layer of your teeth). It is important to reduce your teeth's exposure to these acids by either reducing the amount of acidic juices you consume or neutralizing the acid quickly after drinking them. Don't brush your teeth immediately after drinking acidic drinks to avoid wearing away your enamel even more. An easy way to neutralize the acid other than rinsing with water is to chew gum with xylitol in it.

Avoiding or reducing all the staining drinks would be the best way to keep your smile from staining. If you are going to drink them use these tips. 

1. Drink the staining drinks through a straw to avoid contact with the front of your teeth.

2. Rinse your mouth with water or drink water immediately after drinking the staining drink. This rinses off the staining tannins before they can leave a more permanent stain. 

3. Drink the staining drink at one sitting instead of sipping it all day long. It takes the saliva about an hour to neutralize the sugar and acids from the drink each time you take a new sip. 

4. Chew gum with xylitol after drinking the staining drink. This not only helps neutralize the acids because xylitol helps to increase the pH of the mouth, but it also helps you to salivate more which naturally washes out the tannins, sugars and acid from the drink.