Fix enamel damage caused by activated charcoal
What does dentistry and social media have in common? Charcoal toothpaste. Take a tube of black activated charcoal apply to attractive people, share on social media and others will beat your door down. And now to bust the social media bubble: dentists disagree, researchers disagree, and consumer reviews disagree. To make it clear:  Researchers say don’t use charcoal toothpaste!
Now don’t get us wrong, activated charcoal can be a wonderful thing, it has been used in medicine for a long time to suck up ingested poisons, relieve gas and help with other digestive problems. Charcoal has been used as a toothpaste for thousands of years dating back to ancient Greek times, it is still used in much less developed parts of the world. However, in our developed first world social media post Instagram lives it really does not have a place, because there are far better alternatives.
An article was recently published in the prestigious British Dental Journal, the researchers investigated the claims and findings and basically came to the conclusion that charcoal toothpaste does not benefit out teeth, in fact it may be causing damage!
Insufficient evidence of charcoal toothpaste benefits.
A 2017 literature review considered 118 articles on charcoal based toothpastes found:
‘insufficient scientific evidence to substantiate the cosmetic, health benefits (antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral; reduced caries; tooth whitening; oral detoxification), or safety claims of marketed charcoal-based dentifrices’[1]
[1] Brooks J K, Bashirelahi N, Reynolds M A. Charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices: A literature review. J Am Dent Assoc 2017; 148: 661–670.
How charcoal toothpaste is claimed to work?
In some of the product information that is available, activated charcoal binds to tooth surface deposits. This binding effect then is assisted by bentonite clay containing products which are able to bind to plaque, bacteria and stained materials. These are then brushed away leaving the tooth clean. There however is little information to support these claims.
Charcoal can block the benefits of fluoride.
Charcoal does have a high absorptive capacity; it is used in water filters to capture fluoride. It has been suggested that activated charcoal found in some fluoride toothpastes may actually be blocking the health benefits of the fluoride. The activated charcoal indiscriminately absorbs the fluoride in the toothpaste and in drinking water.[1].
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Abrasiveness
Depending on the manufacturing process the abrasiveness (roughness) of charcoal toothpastes can vary. The more abrasive the charcoal the more successful at removing stains, though potentially at the cost of damage to the enamel. Potentially leading to dental hypersensitivity. Many charcoal toothpaste are marketed as whitening products, this potentially leads to additional damage as users ‘scrub’ harder to remove surface stains.
[1] Linda H. Greenwall,1 Joseph Greenwall-Cohen2 and Nairn H. F. Wilson, Charcoal-containing dentifrices. British Dental Journal V226. No.9
Scrubbing activated charcoal off
Consumers report that the use of activated charcoal can be messy and require additional scrubbing to remove the product. There is some concern in the dental community that this additional scrubbing may cause further damage the enamel.
Repairing enamel damage from charcoal toothpaste.
Depending on the level of damage to the enamel it may be able to be repaired by a high-performance remineralising toothpaste such as BioMin F or BioMin C. These products can help to fill in the damaged surface of the enamel. It is important to however note that remineralising is a slow process, depending on the damage it may take 1 to 3 months for a visually noticeable difference to appear. The visual cues can include, more consistent colour, less transparent tips, removal of white spots and whiter looking teeth. Â Note BioMin does not promote itself a tooth whitener, thicker healthier enamel can make teeth look whiter as more blue light is reflected.