The dentist and owner of Fleetwood Dental has always known that people want to whiten their smile. There are traditional methods that can help patients get the look they want, but lately people are looking for a shortcut from an unlikely source: charcoal.
In essence, people are turning their teeth black to make them white, Dr. Michelle Lee said.
“Right now, the trend that’s going on is, ‘Let’s DIY,’ ” she said. “Let’s see if we can do it faster and cheaper. I don’t want to spend ‘X’ amount of dollars to do teeth-whitening.”
Over the last few years, activated charcoal products have emerged as an at-home solution for those looking to brighten their teeth. The products, which come in powder, paste and capsule forms, use the abrasive power of charcoal to remove stains from teeth.
The charcoal products may provide some initial whitening, but the trouble comes over the long term, Lee said. Those products can wipe away tooth enamel and actually make teeth yellower over time.
“It might lift some of the stain, but if you keep doing that, you’ll end up with yellow-appearing teeth because you’ve brushed away all of the enamel,” Lee said.
For many in the dental field, the charcoal trend comes with big concerns.
How it works
Charcoal is an absorbent agent that does have an actual medical use, Lee said.
Hospitals often keep charcoal in their tool box for poison control cases, she said. When swallowed, activated charcoal can keep drugs and poisons from being absorbed into the bloodstream.
“With that in mind, people think, ‘If I brush with that, perhaps all the stains on my teeth will come out,’ ” Lee said. “What they don’t know, on the flip side, is that it’s extremely abrasive.”
She said the charcoal products seem to be more popular among younger patients and those who are interested in do-it-yourself solutions.
“You can get this activated charcoal in capsules,” Lee said. “They are sprinkling that in their toothbrushes and brushing it for three to four minutes at a time and rinsing with it.”
A lot of patients are asking questions about the charcoal products, said Dr. Brian Schwab, a Maidencreek Township dentist at Shuman & Schwab.
“I think one of the reasons there’s been a lot of interest is it’s readily accessible and inexpensive,” he said. “Consumers are very value conscious. They will give things a try if something’s going to work.”
Safety concerns
Dentists look for evidence-based recommendations for their patients.
When it comes to activated charcoal products, there isn’t a lot of evidence showing they work or are safe.
A September 2017 study in The Journal of the American Dental Association searched for all the available medical literature on the products.
The researchers could not find enough data to substantiate the safety or efficacy claims of the products.
“Dental clinicians should advise their patients to be cautious when using charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices with unproven claims of efficacy and safety,” the report concluded.
Lee and Schwab urged extreme caution for patients who were interested in using charcoal on their teeth.
“The amount of enamel you have in your mouth is a finite resource from when you’re born,” Schwab said. “You can destroy your enamel. Once it’s gone it will not come back.”
He said he gives clear guidance to his patients who are interested in activated charcoal whitening.
“My recommendation would be not to use it,” he said. “If someone is using it, they should use it extremely, extremely sparingly and use it under the advice and guardianship of their dentist.”
Enamel is the hardest part of the body, Lee said. That layer protects the tooth from damage throughout the day.
Stripping away at that enamel exposes the softer underlayer of the tooth, which is known as dentin. That tooth damage can lead to additional dental procedures, crowns or other restorative dentistry, Lee said.
It also might make your teeth appear more yellow.
“Under the enamel is really soft and really yellow,” Lee said.
A whiter smile
Both dentists said they completely understand the desire for a brighter smile.
“It’s 2018,” Lee said. “With social media, we’re just in a different generation. We really love feeling good. We all want to look good and be healthy.”
Lee said she goes through the whitening options with her patients. Some solutions, such as higher-level white strips, can go for about $75, while other options can cost in the upper hundreds of dollars.
Hydrogen peroxide, under the care of a dentist, is another whitening treatment that works well, she said.
Lee said she notices her patients that whiten properly tend to have fewer cavities and plaque.
“There’s more to this whitening than the sake of vanity,” she said.
Schwab said the color of your teeth is partially determined before your born. Some people, despite their best efforts, may have teeth that have a grayer tint.
“The truth of the matter is not everyone is going to be blessed with beautifully white teeth,” he said.
He stressed the importance of talking to a dentist before moving ahead with any whitening plan. The stakes are high, he said, as it’s not hard to make a mistake that can lead to tooth or gum damage.
While the charcoal option may be cheaper, the risks are clearly there.
“At the end of the day, there isn’t a magic solution to fix these problems,” he said.
