Written By: Shaloo Tiwari | Published : October 3, 2017 2:57 PM IST
There are innumerable benefits of charcoal powder. The activated charcoal powder has become an essential part of the beauty regimen and it does give brilliant results. However, recently I came across a lot of videos on Instagram of beauty gurus brushing their teeth with charcoal powder for whiter, brighter teeth. Although there are many brands of toothpaste that use charcoal powder as their major ingredient, I had never heard of using charcoal powder directly on the teeth. I then thought of trying out this multi-beneficial ingredient for my teeth.
Why Activated charcoal for teeth whitening?
I didn't just blindly plan to follow the Instagrammers and beauty vloggers hence did some research before using activated charcoal powder directly on my teeth. I then found out that activated charcoal has been used in the medical field from a really long time(they were used to treat poisoning by chemicals, drugs, and snake bites). It is a common ingredient in water filters even today [1]. Since activated charcoal is highly adsorptive and can bind certain compounds to its surface like a magnet, it can therefore naturally lock onto organic compounds like tannins, which are dark polyphenols present in coffee tea and wine that stain our teeth and make it looks yellow[2]. And who doesn't want whiter teeth? Therefore I thought of giving this a shot and regularly brushed my teeth once a day in the morning with activated charcoal powder.
How to brush your teeth with activated charcoal
These days activated charcoal is readily available over the counter in any chemist shop in the form of capsules or tablets or powder form. I used the activated charcoal capsules as they were easy to use and store and I could also keep a tab easily on how much was I using each day.
Steps:
My verdict:
I could see the effects immediately after brushing. My teeth did look whiter. Although, I would say that it didn't last for the whole day. It looked way whiter immediately after brushing and by the evening it would yellow down. However, for some occasion where you want to look the best, this should be your go-to thing before getting ready.
Since it is very safe even otherwise, you should give it try once and see results for yourself.
Image: Shutterstock
[1] Chyka, P. A., & Seger, D. (1997). Position statement: single-dose activated charcoal. American Academy of Clinical Toxicology; European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists. Journal of toxicology. Clinical toxicology, 35(7), 721-741.
[2] McLaughlin, G. (2000). U.S. Patent No. 6,108,850. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
