Oral hygiene is not just important for maintaining an attractive smile, it is also a key element in the maintenance of overall health and wellness. Charcoal toothpaste has reappeared in the spotlight lately and has caused many to wonder if it can be a help or a hindrance to dental health. Make an Emergency Appointment in Seven Oak Dental Centre.
The trend to use activated charcoal toothpaste to whiten teeth and cure bad breath is something many are talking about and considering using. Before adding it to your dental-health regime, doing some due diligence to consider all relevant factors is advised. While activated charcoal has been used in pressed juices and numerous beauty products over the years, what are the positives and negatives associated with using it for your teeth?
Why People Choose to use Charcoal Toothpaste
For the promise of pearly whites, many people will use almost anything. Charcoal toothpaste does produce some pretty impressive immediate results, and the reports on improvements to bad breath are also very enticing.
People suffer stains on their teeth for a number of reasons. From consuming too much tea or coffee to harsh and acidic foods, as time goes on, those stains don’t go away and can worsen. Many people want to avoid the expense of going to a dentist for a traditional teeth-whitening treatment so they turn to over-the-counter remedies for stained teeth.
Pros of Using Activated Charcoal Toothpaste
The images saturating social media sites depicting before-and-after images of teeth that have been brushed with activated charcoal toothpaste are pretty convincing.
The results are quite impressive as teeth come out much brighter and whiter than with some other traditional teeth-whitening methods. Users of charcoal toothpaste have also reported an improvement to their breath. However, comprehensive studies have not been done on the results of prolonged use, so there are a number of potential side effects to consider.
Cons of Using Activated Charcoal Toothpaste
At first glance, white teeth freshly brushed with charcoal toothpaste can seem like a good thing; however, activated charcoal is a very harsh ingredient. After prolonged use, that harshness can erode irreplaceable tooth enamel, and there is the further danger that it can pass into a deeper layer of the teeth referred to as ‘dentin’. Once enamel and dentin are eroded, this can lead to serious dental problems down the road.
Final Verdict: Advice from Dentists
As there is not a lot of long-term evidence on the results of the prolonged use of activated charcoal toothpaste, dentists caution patients to use it minimally. Using it once a week is considered an acceptable amount as people can still experience the improvements to breath and whitening results without facing the consequences of overuse. Dentists caution people against following the recent dental trend of using activated charcoal toothpaste as long-term results of its use are not yet known, and there are many safer alternatives that guarantee a whiter brighter smile. Dentists suggest that if charcoal toothpaste is to be used that it is done so in moderation. Better yet, dental professionals redirect patients to safer whitening toothpastes, whitening strips, getting a teeth-whitening treatment done by your dentist, or a basic scale and polish.
As we only get one set of teeth, we would be wise to do some research before jumping on the bandwagon of the most recent dental trend. The problem with trends associated with health and wellness is that often their use hasn’t been studied over long periods of time so that all outcomes and potential side effects are not known. In the case of using activated charcoal toothpaste to get a brighter and whiter smile, the results of long-term use are unknown. It is also suspected that the harshness of the charcoal could lead to dental problems down the road due to the erosion of irreplaceable tooth enamel and dentin.