Activated charcoal teeth whitening is a craze that has taken off in America and is gradually becoming more and more common in the UK.
Although charcoal has been used for centuries on barbecues to give great taste to meat, it has only been recently used to whiten teeth. Should you believe the hype or should you keep those charcoals for your children’s christmas stockings?
Activated charcoal is a form of carbon powder that has been processed to have small, low volume pores that increase its surface area. Activated charcoal is made from either coal or a coconut shell which is heated up to produce char.
Activated charcoal is odourless and tasteless. It is non toxic in small quantities however make sure you do not breathe it in! It actually features in the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines although not for tooth whitening. Instead activated charcoal is actually used by doctors as an antidote to poisoning.
Activated charcoal is known for it’s high capacity for absorption that is why it is used as an antidote to acute poisoning. It is suggested that a possible way activated charcoal teeth whitening works is that the nano-sized pores found in activated charcoal may bind to tooth staining agents and thus remove staining. This theory has never been proven.
The other way activated charcoal powder teeth whitening may work is through contrast and a perceptual improvement in white colour. Putting something black on your teeth and then wiping it off will make your mind perceive that the colour is whiter even if there has been no change.
There is no evidence other than the occasional blogger saying that it worked on my teeth. In my search I could not find a single piece of clinical research proving or disproving whether activated charcoal teeth whitening works.
If you really want to whiten your teeth. There are only two chemicals that have proven to do this time and time again hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide. If you want to get white teeth visit your dentist and get professional whitening. Call us today for a free whitening consultation.
