If you're like me and you want your teeth to be whiter, but you're not ready to see the dentist because - well, who wants to see the dentist? Plus, corona *SCREAMS* - you're probably ready to do something stupid like use activated charcoal.
Here's a tip: don't.
In another episode of I do stupid stuff so you don't have to, I tried activated charcoal and it was awful.
You know when you start seeing stuff pop up online about this miracle self-care method that's going to fix all your problems and you know it's a bunch of bull, but then you walk into a massive pharmacy which is full of essential oils, honey from some special island bees that costs a fortune and a whole bunch of other stuff you really don't need like a sugar scrub that you can make at home for less than 1$? Well, queue me and a whole giant tub of activated charcoal. It was on sale.
Right, so against my better judgment, I sprinkled some on my toothbrush and very carefully scrubbed my teeth. I got the absolute finest powder and it still felt abrasive. You'd think I'd stop at this point, right? Nah. I told myself I'd give it a week and test whether I could see the difference.
The good news is there was actually a difference. The bad news, you ask? The difference. The difference was bad.
The texture of my teeth is now less smooth. You can't see it and my teeth haven't gone all middle-earth on me, thank God, but I do wonder if I'll have problems down the line. It's been about two years since I've tried it and the only damage seems to be that they don't feel glassy smooth.
The best-case scenario is it makes your teeth a shade lighter because it takes off the surface stains. Worst case, you absolutely destroy your enamel, increase decay, and end up with teeth that look like unpopped kernels.
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Another way of removing stains, that's less dumb, is oil pulling (check out chapter 4). It's not going to give you that Hollywood smile, nothing but a dentist will for a hefty price, but it will make a bit of a difference.
TLDR: Don't be a dumb-dumb. This stuff is very abrasive.
