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IF GIVEN THE CHANCE<\/b> to change something about their smiles, most people would choose to have whiter teeth, and quite a few are willing to try just about anything for it, including something as counterintuitive as scrubbing them with toothpaste made of charcoal.<\/p>\nThe History of Charcoal as a Remedy<\/h3>\n
The activated charcoal-based dental and skin care products that have been popping up everywhere over the last couple of years aren\u2019t entirely a new idea. Hippocrates of ancient Greece (originator of the Hippocratic Oath and often described as the Father of Medicine) recommended using charcoal to treat black gums and bad breath, and ancient Romans made mouthwashes and tooth powders out of burnt goat hooves.<\/p>\n
Charcoal and teeth didn\u2019t mix much from then until charcoal products began popping back up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1930s, charcoal dental cream and gum were advertised as a way to get fresher breath and remove tobacco stains. However, the American Dental Association raised safety concerns <\/strong>that led to the discontinuation of such products.<\/p>\n Activated charcoal is actually extremely good at absorbing toxins, so the logic is to put that property to work cleaning teeth. It\u2019s a nice theory, but it misses an important part of the picture. Charcoal is a highly abrasive substance<\/strong>, so even while it absorbs harmful compounds and maybe even helps break up surface stains on teeth, it\u2019s also scraping up the enamel and eroding it away.<\/strong><\/p>\n Furthermore, it doesn\u2019t only absorb bad stuff:<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Incomplete Logic of Charcoal in Toothpaste<\/h3>\n