This sounds scary! How can you put the black charcoal in which you grill kebabs into your mouth? Rest assured, activated charcoal is not that. Activated charcoal is really just charcoal all burned up which has been treated with a few gasses to purify it completely and turn it into a powerhouse of porous material that sucks in impurities from the environment around it. By environment here we mean the teeth. Activated charcoal has been used, for at least a century, in various toothpastes and tooth powders.
Activated charcoal has the following benefits in keeping your teeth healthy and clean:
A Natural Cleanser
Activated charcoal absorbs all dirt and toxins from within the teeth. It basically means that the porous surface of activated charcoal attracts all of the unwanted material which acts a bit like a magnet and holds it into its pores. This leaves the area around it clean. Thus making your teeth white, clean and giving you a bright smile!
Keep Your Mouth Healthy!
Activated charcoal can actually be helpful in changing the pH and health of the mouth, and as such is effective in preventing cavities, germs and killing the bad bacteria present in tooth decay and gingivitis and other mouth diseases.
Protect Your White Enamel
Activated charcoal doesn’t destroy the calcium salts of which the tooth enamel is made of. It’s almost like it was made to whiten the teeth and brighten it. To protect your white enamel it is also important that apart from using activated charcoal you drink plenty of milk, increase your calcium intake in the form of yogurt, cheese and eggs.
Best Absorbent of Stain Forming Tannins
Activated charcoal is amazing at whitening teeth because of its adsorption qualities – specifically of tannins. Tannins are in the food and beverages we consume that stain our teeth like tea, cola, sauces, sweets etc and activated charcoal is remarkably efficient and fast at adsorbing them.
Here’s how you do the activated charcoal tooth whitening:
- Brush or clean your teeth as normal.
- Mix together a scant 1/2 tsp activated charcoal powder with very small amount of water. It is highly recommend that you mix it with the water first, or else you might accidentally inhale some activated charcoal powder and cough for a while.
- Swish it around in your mouth for about half a minute.
- Keep it applied on your teeth for a good three minutes.
- Rinse your mouth – very well. You most likely need to brush your teeth again because the black charcoal gets in between the teeth and it can be difficult to simply wash out with just water. And after doing this simple three minute process you will see a larger than life smile!