CHARCOAL-BASED TOOTHPASTES DO NOT WHITEN TEETH AND MAY LEAD TO TOOTH DECAY
It is the trendy toothpaste backed by celebrities including X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger.
But charcoal toothpaste has no evidence it works and may actually increase the risk of tooth decay, it has been warned.
The popular whitening product available in high street chemists often contains no fluoride, which is needed to destroy plaque.
Experts from King’s College London and the University of Manchester say charcoal products are reliant on ‘marketing gimmicks and folklore’. The charcoal may in fact absorb the fluoride needed to prevent tooth decay, while it does not make teeth whiter but merely removes stains - much like regular brushing.
Nicole Scherzinger has said she brushes her teeth with ‘coal’ to make them whiter, while charcoal toothpastes and powders are advertised by reality television stars. High street stores Holland & Barrett and Boots are among those selling charcoal toothpastes and powders which do not contain fluoride, while Superdrug is one of those selling charcoal products for tooth ‘whitening’. Dr Joseph Greenwall-cohen from the University of Manchester Dental School and British Dental Bleaching Society, reviewed dozens of scientific studies on charcoal products as co-author of an article in the British Dental Journal. He said: ‘The problem is that there are so many celebrity endorsements and social media posts about these products, but the claims made about them are unsupported by the evidence.