People Are Whitening Their Teeth With... Charcoal?

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If you haven't already spent a full 7 minutes of your life watching an oddly fascinating YouTube video of someone brushing their teeth with pitch-black paste, we'll fill you in. They're using activated charcoal (a reheated, oxidized version of the stuff you buy for summer cookouts) as a natural tooth whitener. The strangest part? It actually works. "I was super skeptical until I tried it—it's quite messy, but it does strip away stains and plaque to make your teeth appear whiter," says Joseph Banker, DMD, a New Jersey-based cosmetic dentist.

Activated charcoal's natural adhesive qualities let it bind with surface-staining culprits like coffee, tea, wine, and plaque, and take them off your teeth for good when you spit it out, Banker says. However, its whitening power stops at stains—if your teeth are naturally darker or yellow, you'll need to buy a product with a bleaching agent like hydrogen peroxide or try an in-office treatment.

As far as safety goes, the fine, odorless and tasteless powder is kosher to ingest—it's sold in health food stores in tablet form. But Banker and ADA officials warn that until we know if it's gritty enough to damage enamel, you need to avoid actually scrubbing it on your teeth. "Right now, no charcoal teeth whitening products have been evaluated and accepted by the ADA," says Kimberly Harms, DDS, an ADA Consumer Advisor spokesperson. "Our biggest concern is abrasiveness—you don't want it to wear away at the enamel."

Here's how to give it a whirl—safely:
1. Break 1–2 tablets of activated charcoal and pour the powder contents into a cup.
2. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the cup (a teaspoon should do the trick) and mix to form a paste.
3. Dab the paste on all exposed surfaces of your teeth.
4. Wait 3 minutes, and rinse.