Teeth Whitening Activated Charcoal Style

Ok I will be the first to admit, the idea of whitening my teeth with Activated Charcoal seems absolutely absurd! I mean it stains EVERYTHING so one would think it would stain the our teeth as well. I went on a mission to find out!

What is Activated Charcoal?
Do NOT Google search "activated charcoal" without adding the "for teeth whitening" as you will get scary terms like "emergency", "food poisoning", "dangerous". A little bit of science here: activated charcoal is simply carbon that is treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores in the carbon atom. This activation encourages absorption of the materials to the charcoal.

Primarily used for people suffering food poisoning, activated charcoal is highly effective at pulling toxins from the body if ingested. The toxins adhere to the carbon rather than being absorbed by the body and are expelled through the GI track.

Why Activated Charcoal for Teeth Whitening?
I have been trying to find a home remedy that was inexpensive but effective. Whitening strips have peroxide as the active ingredient which makes my teeth very sensitive to hot and cold (no thanks I love coffee too much), not to mention they are like $50 at stores like Target and Wal-Mart.

What happens with activated charcoal is it attracts other carbon-based particles to it. So as you swish or brush with the activated carbon the impurities in your mouth adhere to the carbon and are removed when you rinse. Pretty sweet!

I was skeptical that this was going to actually brighten my teeth and as I looked down at my sink I thought "Damn it now I'm going to have to scrub my sink". I was highly relieved that after I rinsed my mouth the blackness was GONE and the sink wiped clean effortlessly. My teeth felt super smooth and there was a noticeable difference.

It is safe to do as often as needed.

How to

Be sure to purchase "activated charcoal". I bought mine for a whopping $9.99 at The Vitamin Shoppe. I was unsuccessful finding it the local grocery stores or Target. It will come in capsules and 1 capsule is the perfect amount for each.

The two ways I found most successful are either swishing like mouth wash or brushing your teeth. I actually did a combination of the two.

Over the sink (with a paper towel) open a capsule and disperse over a toothbrush. This is HARDER than you think so I actually took some scissors and snipped the top of the capsule. Worked GREAT!

Put the tooth brush in your mouth and in gentle circular motion brush your teeth for about 2 min. Keep your lips as firmly closed as you can or else your wall, mirror and sink will have little black dots (honestly made me think about when I brush my teeth with toothpaste and how it must be all over my walls, gross off to clean the bathroom).

You should have a significant amount of saliva (black) in your mouth so after 2 min of brushing swish that stuff around for an additional 90 seconds. TURN your faucet on and gently spit the charcoal out.

I recommend looking at your teeth at least once while you do it and if you have kids in the house you might as well scare them for fun!

Rinse and spit several times with water. Check to make sure that your lips are stain free and you're all set.