What Those Trendy Charcoal Toothpastes Really Do to Your Teeth
Charcoal toothpaste used to be an Instagram-trend novelty. Now it’s everywhere, even in chain drugstores. But should you really put black toothpaste in your mouth—and does toothpaste with activated charcoal work to make your teeth whiter or healthier?
It’s not looking like it.
What is activated charcoal, anyway?
Activated charcoal is simply common charcoal—made from peat, coal, wood, coconut shell, or petroleum—that is heated along with a gas, which makes the charcoal more porous. This helps activated charcoal “trap” chemicals, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. That’s one reason why it’s likely effective for its standard medical use, which is for treatment of poisoning.
Companies that make activated charcoal toothpaste also claim that the activated charcoal can remove toxins from the teeth and gums, which can lift stains from your teeth and leave you with a whiter smile.
But the American Dental Association says there's no evidence that dental products with charcoal are safe or effective for your teeth.
What's the harm in charcoal toothpaste?
These may not leave teeth healthier and there's some evidence that charcoal toothpaste may actually be bad for them. For one, the compounds in activated charcoal can be abrasive. Research from the Journal of Physics: Conference Series found that brushing with activated charcoal increases the roughness of tooth enamel, which can make it easier for bacteria to stick to the surface. That can put you at risk of greater plaque accumulation, more cavities, and even periodontal disease.
And it may not keep them whiter over time. A 2019 study published in the British Dental Journal suggested that the damage that abrasive charcoal toothpaste can do to teeth could potentially leave teeth discolored over time.
And a review from the Journal of the American Dental Association that evaluated 50 different charcoal toothpastes concluded that dentists should “advise their patients to be cautious” when using these products due to “unproven claims of efficacy and safety.”
Plus, as cool as it is to squeeze out black toothpaste onto your toothbrush, the stuff generally makes a mess of black speckles and drips in and around your sink, even when you're trying to be pretty tidy.
Bottom line: There’s just a lot that we don't know about activated charcoal right now, and there's not enough evidence to prove that it can whiten your smile while keeping your teeth healthy.
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