What? People are brushing their teeth with charcoal?
Yes, believe it or not, there are now a few charcoal tooth paste products that can be purchased on the Internet. You can buy the pasty type, or a powder. The powder is messy to use and if you aren’t careful you can have a black dripping mess. You are encouraged to brush your teeth afterwards with your regular paste. However, despite the mess and extra work, the powder seems to get better personal reviews in terms of whitening teeth. The paste isn’t as messy and taste better, but not as effective, according to consumers.
The charcoal used is in the activated form which has oxygen infused into it. If in contacts with the tooth long enough it is thought to remove chemicals and toxins, and along with the abrasive effect on the surface will eventually lead to whiter teeth (an initial whitening which then whitens some more).
Activated charcoal has other uses including improvements for skin and hair, and antidote for some poisons. I personally see an alternative medicine doctor who gave me a preparation with activated charcoal to help with my digestion and it really helped a lot.
Ask Your Dentist
What do dentists think about this new fad? The general consensus among dental professionals is that it has not been tested enough to see what the ultimate effects will be. The abrasiveness on the enamel is a major concern. The concern is that the major surface structure may wear down and where someone has gum recession where there is no enamel, more damage can be done to the tooth structure. Any abrasiveness product, whether an abrasive toothpaste or medium to hard toothbrushes will cause loss of natural tooth structure rather quickly.
If I were to try charcoal as a toothpaste, I would try preparations from a company called Dr. Brite. They pay more attention to using more natural products which is not the norm for the dental profession. But consider all of the whitening products that are available and have been tested and shown to be safe before using the latest and greatest trendy products which are not well tested and may have some down sides not yet widely shown. The dental profession spends a lot of time, effort and money to come up with safe, quality products for consumer home use.