Two New Dental Trends
A good idea or best avoided?
Dental trends come and go just like trends come and go in fashion and music. The ill-advised tooth gems for example, were a huge trend in the 90’s, but luckily the two trends we are talking about today aren’t quite as harmful,
The two trends we are talking about today are oil pulling and charcoal toothpaste. Both are becoming popular and enough patients have mentioned them to us for us to take notice and start looking into them.
The funny thing is, both of these processes of cleaning the teeth have been around for thousands of years. Both processes appear in ancient times as very basic forms of teeth cleaning, so they aren’t new trends but rather, re-purposed methods.
Let’s take a closer look at both oil pulling and charcoal toothpaste to see if they are a good idea or not:
Charcoal Toothpaste
Activated charcoal is appearing in face masks, supplements and now in toothpaste. The product is carbon which has been treated and then in a toothpaste form it is combined with other ingredients to make a tooth cleaning product. It is thought to work by the carbon being porous and sucking up bacteria, dirt and debris from the mouth. It is also said to whiten teeth, clean teeth and freshen breath.
Here at Abbey Road Dental we can’t say that it works, and it certainly isn’t a replacement for regular tooth brushing, or regular visits to our NW8 clinic in St John’s Wood. It also isn’t as effective at tooth whitening as a professional bleaching treatment. However, some people have found it useful for freshening breath and removing surface stains from the teeth, and tested, approved products might work just as well as a standard toothpaste. Unsure? Please speak to your dentist at Abbey Road Dental before using a charcoal toothpaste, for further advice.
Oil Pulling
With oil pulling, a person uses around a tablespoon of coconut oil and then spends about ten minutes sucking and pushing it through the teeth and around the mouth before spitting it out. You can buy special oil pulling kits, or just use good quality organic coconut oil to oil pull. The way it is supposed to work is by sucking up all the ‘nasty’ bacteria from the teeth, gums and soft tissues in the mouth. Those who oil pull say it whitens teeth, freshens breath and cleans the teeth.
Similar to the above, here at Abbey Road Dental we can’t say that is works, and it is not a replacement for regular brushing or visits to our St John’s Wood clinic. Just like charcoal toothpaste, it isn’t as effective at whitening the teeth as bleaching is. However, it could be a useful supplementation to day-to-day oral hygiene, but should never replace it. Unsure? Please speak to the team at Abbey Road Dental for further advice on oil pulling.
Do You Prefer Tried And Tested Tooth Cleaning & Whitening?
Whilst oil pulling and charcoal toothpastes cannot easily be shown to be effective and should therefore be treated with caution, we can offer two proven and tested methods of cleaning and whitening. A hygienist visit is effective at giving the teeth a thorough clean, whilst also helping you to improve day to day brushing techniques, which helps promote better overall personal oral care. In a similar way, professional teeth whitening at our local clinic is guaranteed to give your teeth a deep whitening treatment, brightening your teeth beyond the simple removal of surface level enamel stains.
If you need additional advice on these or any other dental topics, or simply need to book in for treatment, please call us on 02076241603 and we will be more than happy to help!