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Hello dearest steemians, it’s your loyal boy @sistem here again with yet another intriguing topic. I am here to clear the air and open your minds to the reason why a black substance would be responsible for absolute teeth whitening.

I am sure many of you might have wondered why charcoal would make a person’s teeth white after few days of usage. I for one, was sceptical about the use of charcoal and its ability to make a brown or milky teeth white again. I couldn’t wrap my head around it and so as an inquisitive mind, I decided to do some study on it to know why it does so and to know what gives it this seemingly ‘’supernatural’’ ability and I was able to get answers which I am about to share with you guys today.

As usual, I beckon on you to sit back with your bowl of popcorn as we unravel this mysterious charcoal teeth whitening ability.

First of all, we need to know what charcoal is, where it comes from and how it’s made...

What is charcoal?

Charcoal is the lightweight black carbon and ash residue hydrocarbon produced by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis (this is the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen.

Now the reason why charcoal is preferred to the use of wood is because charcoal has no water residue and other components because they have all been discharged during pyrolysis which enable charcoal to burn at a very high temperature and the product of its combustion is mainly carbon dioxide which isn’t dangerous to health. No wonder we see those women who roast corn, fish and what have you, on the road using charcoal instead of wood which produces sooth during combustion.

Having known what charcoal is and how it is made, lets delve a little into the history of charcoal. Of cause, I am sure you are curious to know the origin of charcoal.

Brief history about our dear charcoal…

People have been making charcoal since about 4000 BC in both China and West Asia. North and South American people, Africans, and Europeans also made and used charcoal. The way people made charcoal was generally by piling wood up and covering it with dampened dirt, and then lighting the wood on fire, so that it burned very slowly without much oxygen. The best charcoal comes from burning hard wood like oak or beech. The result is mainly carbon, like coal.

This picture on the right shows a charcoal-burning pile. Charcoal burners piled up the wood in carefully planned ways so it would burn slowly and turn into charcoal.

The picture on the left shows a cross-section of the same pile of wood, so we can see how the wood is stacked up and then covered with dirt to keep out oxygen and ensure a slow fire.

Charcoal burning was usually a specialized job, done by expert charcoal-burners who sold their charcoal to other people. Making charcoal was a hard and dirty job, and most charcoal burners were very poor, but independent (not enslaved). Many people were charcoal-burners, because every village needed charcoal back then.

Now what are the types of charcoal we have?

The different types of charcoal we have are, but not limited to;

• Common charcoal:The common charcoal, as the name implies, is made from coal, wood, coconut shell, or petroleum. Basically the simple combustible woodlike things we have around us.

• Sugar charcoal:The sugar charcoal is obtained from the carbonization or the destructive distillation of cane sugar and is particularly regarded as the purest type of charcoal. It is purified by boiling with concentrated sulphuric acid to remove any mineral matter and is then burned for a long time in a current of chlorine in order to remove the last traces of hydrogen.

• Activated charcoal:The activated charcoal is similar to common charcoal but is made specifically for medical use. To produce activated charcoal, manufacturers heat common charcoal in the presence of a gas that causes the charcoal to develop many internal spaces or "pores". These pores help activated charcoal trap chemicals.

• Lump charcoal:The lump charcoal is a traditional charcoal made directly from hardwood material.

• Japanese charcoal:The Japanese charcoal is a type of charcoal which has pyroligneous acid removed from it during the charcoal making; it therefore produces almost no smell or smoke when burned. The traditional charcoal of Japan is classified into two types:

    * ***White charcoal*** which is very hard and produces a metallic sound when struck.
    * ***Black charcoal*** 

japanese white charcoal

japanese black charcoal

Now that we are conversant with the various types of charcoal we have, we can now delve properly into the teeth whitening ability of the charcoal bearing in mind that the actual charcoal used for teeth whitening is the Activated Charcoal which from the aforementioned types, is made specifically for medical use.

What is this activated charcoal?

Activated charcoal, also known as activated carbon, is a form of carbon which possesses small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions. Activated charcoal is sometimes referred to as active charcoal.

What are its basic methods of preparation?

Activated charcoal is produced from carbonaceous source materials such as bamboo, coconut husk, willow peat, wood, coir, lignite, coal, and petroleum pitch. It can be produced by one of the following processes:

A. Physical activation: The materials are developed into activated carbons using hot gases. Air is then introduced to burn out the gasses, creating a screened and de-dusted form of activated carbon. This is generally done by using one or a combination of the following processes:

• Carbonization: This is a process in which the material with carbon content is pyrolyzed at a temperature within the range 600–900 °C, usually in inert atmosphere with gases like argon or nitrogen

• Activation/Oxidation: In this process, raw material or carbonized material is exposed to oxygen or steam at temperatures above 250 °C, usually in the temperature range of 600–1200 °C.

B. Chemical activation: In this process, before carbonization, the raw material is impregnated with certain chemicals. The chemical will either be an acid, strong base, or a salt. Examples of such acids, bases and salts are phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, calcium chloride, and zinc chloride. Then, the raw material is carbonized at lower temperatures (450–900 °C).

N/B: Chemical activation is preferred over physical activation owing to the lower temperatures and shorter time needed for activating material.

How does activated charcoal whiten the teeth?

Teeth whitening process can be in either of these two ways:

1. Bleaching: Bleaches contain an active ingredient, most often carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide in concentrations of 10-22%, which oxidize certain stains to reduce their coloration on the surface and within some pores or cracks on teeth.

2. Non-bleaching/Abrasive: The Non-bleaching or Abrasive procedures work by physical action to remove surface stains. All toothpastes employ the principle of mild abrasion to remove surface stains. Abrasion is used to remove the staining agents, but desirably, the enamel will not be abraded.

Number 2 which is the Non-bleaching / Abrasive process is the process employed by activated charcoal in teeth whitening. Activated charcoal contains a highly convoluted surface which can bind materials or gas, and carry it safely through the digestive system with a highly adsorptive surface.

The adsorbing ability of activated charcoal may produce ion exchange in the mouth via its nano-sized pores that may bind and remove tooth-staining agents. Though the abrasive nature of activated charcoal powder has not been investigated, it is known to be more abrasive than our regular toothpaste gel.

CONCLUSION

The manufacturers of activated charcoal, claims that the sole ingredients to their product are the gelatin capsule and the pure activated charcoal itself with no preservatives added. Gelatin is a translucent brittle, colourless and tasteless food gotten from collagen obtained from various animal body parts and so it is natural. Therefore, we can conclude that the charcoal has no chemical bleachant, and only abrasion would be used in the teeth whitening process. Although abrasion supports removal of surface stains, its effects should be minimalized due to the fact that excess abrasion can cause gingival recession, enamel loss, and heightened sensitivity of the teeth.

The abrasive concentrations in most of our regular gel toothpastes are 50% to 75% lower than those of the activated charcoal. Therefore, activated charcoal powders should be used more sparingly and with greater caution, especially those with exposed cementum and dentin, to avoid excess dentinal abrasion and pulpal sensitivity.

At this point I think I have laid bare everything you need to know about the “mysterious’’ teeth whitening ability of our dear charcoal.

Till we meet again, I remain your humble tutor @sistem…do have a lovely day.

Images:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 10.

Ref: 1, 2, 3, 4