Charcoal teeth whitening warning – dangerous – says Dunedin Dentist Dr. Mike Hopkins!
This is a new DIY (do it yourself) fad that is growing in popularity. The American Dental Association has posted a warning that this can be very dangerous to your dental health. The thought behind the activated charcoal is that many make-ups are using it to absorb oils, thus it may be good to absorb stains from teeth. However, there are NO oils to absorb from teeth. The “instructions” tell you to open a capsule of activated charcoal, wet your brush with water, and coat your brush with the charcoal. Then scrub vigorously for five minutes and rinse. Do this everyday until you achieve the whiteness you desire. What they don’t tell you is that you are not absorbing the stain, you are instead using a highly abrasive ground “rock” that abrades away the enamel surface of your teeth. ABRADES AWAY THE ENAMEL SURFACE OF YOUR TEETH! The enamel cannot be replaced. Then you are looking at the expense of laminates or crowns to repair the damage.
Please do not do this!
Dr. Mike Hopkins
