Recently, there has been a new craze in the beauty and health area that has people chomping at the bit to try it: charcoal tooth whiteners. People add a dab of the charcoal paste to their toothbrush, give their teeth a good scrubbing, and voila! Whiter teeth.
Unfortunately, that’s not the whole story. Despite its popularity and seemingly positive results, many dentists are warning people about DIY activated charcoal teeth whiteners. You’re probably sitting there thinking, “Well, they’re dentists so they are probably just trying to protect their business and scare people.” You might be right, but if every dental practitioner says something is bad for your teeth, wouldn’t you listen?
As it turns out, charcoal is actually harmful to your teeth. The charcoal is extremely abrasive and ends up stripping away your enamel.
The whole idea behind the charcoal tooth whitening trend is charcoal’s natural absorptive qualities. Dentists have their patients ingest it all the time if they think they’ve consumed a potentially toxic or contaminated substance. In fact, one in six Americans becomes ill from ingesting contaminated foods or beverages according to the CDC, not to mention all of the stuff that shouldn’t be consumed. So, applying that logic to teeth, the charcoal will absorb the bacteria and stains on your teeth, leaving them brighter and whiter.
The bad news for everyone out there looking for a cheap and easy way to whiten their teeth is the abrasiveness of charcoal. Your teeth only have so much enamel, and while it’s extremely strong, it doesn’t grow back once it’s gone. Brushing your teeth with traditional toothpaste is enough to wear down your enamel, not factoring in how hard you brush.
The charcoal tooth whitener works by stripping away a layer of your enamel, revealing the layer of enamel that’s fresh and white. Not only does it wear down your enamel, but it does so much more severely than other whitening methods.
Besides the fact that it’s harmful to your teeth, charcoal can actually stain your tongue and your teeth. Yes, the paste that you’re using to whiten your teeth will eventually stain them, and your tongue too. What good are white teeth if you have a black tongue?
If you thought there couldn’t be anything else that’s bad about charcoal tooth whiteners, you’d be disappointed to hear that it can do harm to your digestive tract if swallowed. Granted, if you’ve gone this long without swallowing your toothpaste, you probably wouldn’t have a tough time with charcoal.
As much as DIY health tips seem like a great idea, you should always be cautious. For the estimated 39.09 million Americans who used tooth whiteners in 2017, charcoal tooth whiteners seemed like a too-good-to-be-true kind of thing.
Sadly, it is.