Maintaining my teeth is very important to me because I wore braces for five years. That is why I have always been extremely careful about maintaining oral hygiene. However, as I am a big fan of coffee and tea, I noticed that my teeth have taken on a yellowish color over the years regardless of regular brushing, so I decided to try to whiten them.
The first thing that came to my mind was whitening at my dentist, but after seeing the prices I quickly gave up considering my monthly income and turned to alternative solutions. Researching various forums and communities, I saw that there is a wide range of different products on the market, including LED lights, various whitening pens, and activated charcoal for natural whitening. Since I have always loved natural products, I decided to give activated charcoal with coconut shells a chance.
Which activated carbon did I buy and what results did I achieve?
It didn’t take me long to find various experiences using activated charcoal for teeth whitening. On a forum that I follow regularly, I saw that a lot of members praised Cleopatra’s Natural teeth whitening powder and I decided to try it. To be honest, at first I was skeptical that I would notice any difference after using it, but the many reviews on their website made me give it a try and I didn’t regret it. The picture below shows my results after fifteen days of using the product, and the teeth become a shade lighter already after the first wash.
How is the product used and what did my dentist tell me?
According to the manufacturer’s instructions, the product is used every day for the first fifteen days, and after that 3-4 times a week to maintain the whiteness of the teeth and oral hygiene in general. The powder is black in color and without any smell or taste, which positively surprised me because at first I was a bit repulsed to put black powder on my teeth. It is used by putting ordinary toothpaste on the brush, after which the brush is dipped in the powder and brushed with light circular movements for a few minutes. Since I noticed that my teeth were much brighter after the first wash, I was interested in whether this procedure was harmful to my teeth, so I asked the expert.
The opinion of the dentist DMD Lily Doyle:
“Activated charcoal based on coconut shells enables good cleaning of existing pigmentation, caused as a result of consumption of different foods, colored drinks, coffee, tea, wine, cigarettes, etc. It enables the existing natural whiteness of the teeth to be more easily maintained, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the condition the teeth were in before. Activated charcoal does not act as an aggressive bleach because it does not contain carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide, but successfully removes surface deposits that cause the teeth to take on a yellowish color,” says dr. Lily and continues:
“In case you decide to whiten with activated charcoal, it is always important to check whether activated charcoal is based on coconut shells because it works better on surface deposits due to smaller micropores that more successfully remove stains that cause yellowing. In this case, the Cleopatra’s Natural powder is based on coconut shells which is great. I also see that the powder contains Salvador Persica stem, which the World Health Organization classifies as plant that have a positive effect on oral hygiene. Activated charcoal in itself is not harmful to the teeth (otherwise all large toothpaste companies should not have charcoal edition toothpaste at all), but it should always be used according to the manufacturer’s instructions and not over-washed to avoid unwanted consequences.”
