According to a study in the Journal of Dentistry, tooth color has a great impact on how strangers view you. In the absence of other information, the color of your smile can actually influence how others perceive you socially. Patients with whiter teeth, for example, are seen as younger and more desirable than those with darker teeth. With these social judgements in mind, it’s only natural that people strive to achieve a whiter, brighter smile. While there have been many iterations of tooth whitening remedies, a more recent one is using charcoal toothpaste. Charcoal fans claim that this toothpaste is a more “natural” way to whiten your smile, without the use of chemicals in professional whitening. But is charcoal toothpaste actually good for your teeth?
At St. Apollonia Dental, we strive to educate our patients on what’s best for their oral health. When it comes to charcoal toothpaste, we urge our patients to be cautious.
What Is Charcoal Toothpaste?
Charcoal is a carbon-rich residue left after heating organic material such as wood or coconut shells. In toothpaste, charcoal is activated at high temperatures to increase its absorbency. By rubbing charcoal toothpaste over your smile, the porous material will absorb stains, leaving your teeth whiter than before.
However, charcoal toothpaste is also abrasive, scraping stains off your enamel. Unlike other whitening products that use bleaching agents to brighten your smile, charcoal actually removes stained enamel to reveal whiter enamel underneath.
Is Charcoal Toothpaste Good for Your Teeth?
So, does charcoal whiten teeth? Technically, yes! By scraping off the top layer of stained enamel, your teeth are typically left noticeably whiter. But this whitening effect comes with a dangerous cost.
Charcoal toothpaste is not good for your teeth or overall oral health. Enamel, unlike skin or hair, doesn’t grow back once removed. This means that with every scrape of your charcoal toothpaste, you lose a protective layer of enamel that will never return.
Enamel is the hard, outer layer of your teeth that protects the inner portions of your smile. Without enamel for protection, the delicate layer underneath, known as dentin, is exposed. This material, unlike enamel, is quite sensitive, especially to temperature. Additionally, dentin is a soft, yellowish color that totally defeats the purpose of whitening your smile.
Using charcoal toothpaste risks both the integrity of your smile and your teeth, while also actively destroying the white layers of enamel.
Find a Better Way To Whiten Your Smile
Fortunately, charcoal isn’t the only way to brighten a smile.
To keep your smile beautiful and healthy, we recommend following a rigorous hygiene routine to safely remove stains!
- Brush your teeth: For a happy and healthy smile, be sure to brush at least twice a day. While some people prefer to brush after every meal, twice a day should be the minimum. At St. Apollonia Dental, we recommend using a soft-bristle brush and fluoride toothpaste! These steps help keep your smile bright while still protecting your teeth from harmful bacteria and disease.
- Floss regularly: Most people only floss when they feel they have something stuck in their teeth. But the truth is, you have things between your teeth after every meal! Flossing, with traditional dental floss or a water flosser, helps clear out those nooks and crannies.
- Attend routine dental visits: At St. Apollonia Dental, we recommend visiting us twice a year for routine checkups. However, depending on your needs, you may need to visit more frequently. Those with gum disease or an increased risk should be seen more regularly. During these appointments, we will thoroughly examine your smile to check for signs of trouble and provide you with a professional teeth cleaning.
The first step to a whiter smile is a healthier one. Once we’re sure that your teeth are in good condition, we’ll then discuss other whitening methods.
At St. Apollonia Dental, we offer effective cosmetic dentistry that helps improve the aesthetics of your smile. This includes straightening teeth, altering their shape or size, and safely whitening your enamel.
Ditch Charcoal Toothpaste for a Healthier Solution That’s Good for Your Teeth!
Tooth color can have a large impact on how others perceive you. If you want to brighten your smile, you don’t have to depend on charcoal toothpaste to do so! At St. Apollonia Dental, we recommend patients avoid charcoal solutions and stick to safer whitening methods. By brushing your teeth, flossing, attending routine checkups, and undergoing cosmetic dentistry treatments, you can brighten your smile while protecting your enamel.
Book a free consultation with us today in Sterling Heights, MI, to learn what we can do for your smile.
