The business of teeth whitening has become a gigantic global industry this past decade.
From home whitening kits and ‘whitening’ toothpastes to dental office applied bleaching treatments and ‘whitening’ salons in Europe, it seems that our global culture wants to have a white smile.
And understandably given all the unspoken qualities that a white smile suggests…
success, youth, beauty.  All the qualities our culture holds ‘on high’.
But what is the cost to the health of the individual who follows this trend?
Some research suggests that whitening (aka bleaching) treatments are safe. Â Other researchers warn of damage to enamel and potentially permanent tooth hypersensitivity.
Quick review…
In a recent article on the methods and strategies used in this subject of teeth whitening, we made the distinction between whitening and bleaching.
Here’s the takeaway…
Whitening techniques use mechanical methods to remove extrinsic stains.
Bleaching techniques use chemical methods to remove both extrinsic and intrinsic stains.
(To get the full story on these definitions, check out our article titled, Teeth Whitening – Methods and Differences)
We also recently took a deep dive into the research on chemical whitening (bleaching) methods and the risks of teeth whitening treatments.
So, in today’s article in our series on how to naturally whiten your teeth without destroying your enamel, let’s focus on mechanical methods and the relative safety and effectiveness of ingredients we can use to help remove stains from our teeth.
In particular, we want to focus on understanding the role of abrasives to help remove surface stains, how to use abrasives safely, and which abrasives work best (and which to avoid).
Toward the end of this article, we will share the one ingredient that has been scientifically proven to be the most awesome gentle abrasive.
The problem with abrasives…
The problem with using abrasives to whiten our teeth by removing surface stains is that they are abrasive and can cause wear to our enamel.
This problem is further increased if we brush unconsciously.
The dental industry and FDA use a term called Relative Dentin Abrasivity (RDA) to score how ‘rough’ an ingredient is on our teeth.
These abrasivity scores range from 0 to 269 with zero being no abrasivity and 269 as something you could use in place of sandpaper :).
Incidentally, the reason we’re ok with using baking soda in our oral hygiene habits is because baking soda has an RDA of 7.  On the other end of the RDA scale, you’ll find some commercial ‘whitening’ products with scores as high as 200 (yikes). (Here’s a full list if you want to take a deeper dive on Relative Dentin Abrasivity values)
Why abrasives work…
Simply put, abrasives help us to ‘scrub’ surface stains from our teeth.  (Here’s a list of common causes of teeth stains and how to avoid them.)
In fact, studies have been done to determine how effective an ingredient is at removing stains.
Called Pellicle Cleaning Ratio (PCR), researchers have ranked how effectively a product like baking soda removes stains from teeth.
As you’d guess, in general, the more abrasive an ingredient is (higher abrasivity value), the more effective that ingredient is in removing stains (cleaning ratio).
The rub (pun intended) is that the higher the abrasivity, the better it removes stains AND the greater the potential of damage to our teeth.
Watch out for hydrated silica
Hydrated silica is a really, really common ingredient in many commercial toothpastes (yes, even the ‘healthy’ ones).
As an ingredient, hydrated silica is also called diatomaceous earth (DE) and silicon dioxide as well.
And while the info isn’t as terrible as many crazy ingredients, research does state that products containing hydrated silica are more abrasive to our teeth.
When you combine a product that is ‘more abrasive’ with the fact that most of our culture scrubs their teeth and gums unconsciously like we were scrubbing a grout line in our shower, we can cause more harm than good to our teeth and gums brushing with hydrated silica.
In one study we read, researchers state, “dentifrices marketed as “whitening” products were generally more abrasive to dentin, especially for those containing silicas”
So, the quest we went on was to find an ingredient that has a low abrasivity (RDA) value AND a higher cleaning ability (PCR).
Combining low abrasivity and high cleaning ability…
In one study, researchers ranked 26 commercial oral hygiene products based on their abrasivity, cleaning ability AND their ‘cleaning efficiency’.
Researchers studying stains, abrasivity, and cleaning ability found that a relationship exists between the relative abrasivity and the cleaning ability.  They came up with what they call ‘Cleaning Efficiency Index’ (CEI).
Let’s look at a couple examples of how this ‘Cleaning Efficiency Index’ works.
If for example, a product was low abrasive AND low cleaning ability, it’s efficiency index score was low too.  If a product was high abrasive AND high cleaning ability, it’s efficiency could still be low.
The Cleaning Efficiency Index really ranks the combination of abrasivity in relation to cleaning ability.
What researchers were looking for was a product ingredient that was low abrasive AND high cleaning ability.  This combination would give the highest ‘cleaning efficiency’ index score.
And they found it. 🙂
The ingredient with the highest cleaning efficiency
While researching these 26 tooth products, scientists found that some products had a higher cleaning efficiency than others.  One of the higher scores was from products containing ‘fullers earth’, which had a cleaning efficiency score of 86.  Common names for fuller’s earth are bentonite or montmorionite clay.
But there was one ingredient that was even higher and had a score of 98!  A particular type of clay, specifically white kaolin clay, achieved the highest cleaning efficiency value.
The combination of low abrasivity and high cleaning capacity gave white kaolin clay the high score on the ‘cleaning efficiency index’.  And if you’ve ever felt white kaolin clay, you’ll know why. It’s super soft and fine and is commonly used in the cosmetic industry.
(For you DIYers, here’s a link to white kaolin.)
(By the way, our Healthy Mouth Blend contains no abrasives in it, yet we have received many testimonials from our happy customers sharing how their teeth became whiter from using our Healthy Mouth Blend.)
Bringing this all together…
While we all want a whiter smile, let’s be mindful to make sure that those strategies we apply to help us have a whiter smile also help us have a healthier smile too.  Thankfully, the research has been done to show us the best ingredients to use to help us reach that healthier AND whiter smile!
What ingredients have you found helpful on your path to optimal oral health?
Any ingredients you want to share with us to avoid? Together we can accomplish so much!
We hope this article helps you one more step along your path to a healthier, happier smile.
Helpful, Related Resources:
The First Step How to Whiten Your Teeth Naturally [article]
Teeth Whitening – Methods and Differences [article]
Can Tooth Whitening Treatments Destroy Your Enamel? [article]
Is Baking Soda Safe to Brush With? [article]
Resources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=refined+kaolin+clay+teeth
http://c2-preview.prosites.com/131248/wy/docs/131248_rdh%20sheet.pdf
Hi,
You mention that Bentonite has a RDA of 86. I’m considering using it and can’t find much data on it’s RDA. Do you remember where you found that number?
Best regards,
J
Aloha J,
This study reports that a dentifrice containing bentonite clay / fuller’s earth had an average RDA value of 86: Abrasion, polishing, and stain removal characteristics of various commercial dentifrices in vitro.
Here’s a PDF of the article, in case you’d like to check it out.
I hope that helps! Aloha! 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful article. I am starting to establish a new healthy living protocol for myself and my husband. Our personal health has been neglected recently due to family and financial stress. Healthy oral care in a big component of our new protocol.
I am curious if you know whether there are concerns about aluminum in kaolin clay. That is an issue that I have seen raised in relation to using clay for brushing.
I would definitely be interested in any information you find as to whether these suggestions (and others from your site, including your Healthy Mouth Blend) are safe or effective for dogs.
Thanks again for all you do.
Aloha Jessica,
Thank you for reaching out to us here.
Your question about concerns about aluminum in clays is a really great one.
The devil’s in the details in this case.
Yes, all clays have within them aluminum (in fact, some clays are predominantly aluminum compounds). The factor to consider here is whether the aluminum is ‘free’ and therefore available for absorption into the system or not. In the case of clay, the aluminum is bound in a compound and is therefore not available to be absorbed into our systems.
I hope this helps to clarify this point and dispel any concerns you have about using clays in oral hygiene.
We welcome you and your family to read through our site. We have lots and lots of strategies (many of them free) that you can apply to navigate the path to greater oral health.
Welcome to the path! 🙂
By the way, what is the RDA of kaolin? I can’t find it in the sources listed! Instead, one says that the lowest RDA measured was 36…while you say baking soda has one of 7…huh?
Super interesting. I wonder about one thing and that is how can silica be abrasive when it’s dissolved in a toothpaste?
Will and Susan,
I have spent the morning getting caught up on your latest posts. Thank you so much for the first class information you labor to put out there for all of us. I do appreciate your new approach to the “summit”–yours was the first I ever participated in, but the health summit platform has certainly become overwhelming and a bit of a mixed blessing. I think your new idea will be much appreciated!
My holistic dentist recommended I try the sonicare tootbrush. I know you are not fans of electric toothbrushes in general, however the hygenist said this works on sound waves rather than abrasion. I am giving it a try. Do you feel the sonicare is helpful? I will say the sonicare is much messier than other electric toothbrushes and works best with a tooth oil rather than a powder.
I have been told that staining can be a vicious cycle. My children and I are all prone to staining–probably from our healthy foods like herbal teas and berries, we always get it quite badly when we need to take liquid iron—and apparently stains attract more stains. I have been using the Bentonite clay mixed with cal-mag and an herbal tooth powder with no results, so I intend to incorporate some of the other ideas like oil pulling an activated charcoal to help.
Thanks again for the research.
Aloha Michelle,
Thank you for your caring words of support. We’re glad you like the new interview format we’ve chosen to follow.
Re: Sonicare, electric brushes can be fine to use. We simply encourage a person to be really conscious while using them so you don’t do more damage than good in the mouth. There’s a tendency to lapse into a very unconscious state when using an electric brush since ‘all’ you need to do is move it around your mouth.
Incidentally, despite the millions of dollars the company who markets the Sonicare toothbrush spends, we have heard from several dentist friends that they are not impressed with what they see in the mouth’s of their patients who use them. I don’t know if the ‘falling short’ of awesome dental hygiene is from the Sonicare or from the lackadaisical brushing attitude I referenced above.
The oil pulling and activated charcoal should offer some substantial help with naturally whitening your family’s smiles! 🙂
I hope that helps!
I have used coconut oil . It works great. Just rinse your mouth with it. You get immediate results
Agreed La Vene!
Oil pulling is a wonderful whitening action!
Is kaolin clay safe to use for brushing dogs’ teeth?
Aloha Vera,
I really don’t know. We haven’t researched this subject yet. However, as kaolin clay is a type of natural clay, my guess would be it’s safe for animals. I mean, how many times have you seen domestic animals eat dirt? 🙂
Thanks for stopping by to ask!
I’ve heard it’s not good to use bentonite clay if you have amalgam fillings. Is the same true for kaolin clay?
Aloha Michelle,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
Hmm, any reason to not use bentonite clay if a person has amalgams? My guess is that the clay would liberate more mercury from the amalgam. In my opinion, that’s not really a sound reason to avoid bentonite (or other clays). You see, it’s been proven that amalgams off gas mercury 24/7 anyway. Yeah, it’s true that they off gas more if you stimulate them (like drinking a cup of hot coffee, brushing the surface of the filling, etc). But given that we are talking about brushing with clays to help gently whiten our teeth, that’s more focused on the front surface of the teeth, not the chewing surface.
So, while I’m not sure what reasoning you read why to avoid clay if one has amalgams, if I’ve guess right here, I think it’s a non issue. I would presume the same would be true for white kaolin too.
We hope that helps! Thanks again for asking!
So, what is the RDA of DE, which I see is in Trader Joe’s relatively economical SLS-free toothpaste? Why not show or link to a list of common abrasives ranked for RDA, the toothpaste rankings for CEI, etc.?
Aloha Narada,
Thank you for reaching out here. Great questions!! I love the idea of providing a list of common ingredients used as abrasives ranked for their RDA and pastes ranked for CEI. If I’m able to get that data, we will definitely share it with you here.
Regarding your question on DE, it’s an interesting one. If you search ‘hardness of diatomaceous earth’ on google, you’ll see lots of articles that say that DE is really hard. A few of them even said that DE had a ‘hardness’ of 7. What these articles are referring to is a scale that rates the relative hardness of any material called ‘Mohr’s Hardness Scale’. For example, on Mohr’s scale, a diamond is a 10 (hardest substance). So, these articles claim that DE is a 7, which is pretty hard. However, we tend to like to ‘see the evidence’ ourselves rather than just parrot what others claim to be true. So I dug a little deeper for you and found a Mohr’s scale that had diatomaceous earth listed. This scale shows DE at 1.5.
So, we can learn a few things from this:
1. It’s risky to just blanket trust ‘facts’ in articles.
2. DE isn’t really very hard, so the reason researchers warn against using it must be due to some other factor, perhaps it’s rough shape.
In the end, due to warnings in studies we reference in this article, we still choose to steer clear of this questionable ingredient.
We hope this helps!
I also use activated charcoal. My teeth aren’t as white as I’d like them but the charcoal does help lighten them somewhat. I have to be so careful what I use. I’m on well water & use a special water filtration system for drinking water which removes anything you don’t want & mineralizes the water.
Dear Will and Susan,
Thank you for your research and caring enough to put this up for us. Is there a recipe for using the kaolin or can we use it directly like a tooth powder, or with the blend?
I am on Gut Thrive 5 now primarily for my periodontal issues and so happy that they recommend your HealThy Mouth blend. It is strong and soothing and I really like the ingredients. Had oral laser surgery 8/19 and can’t bass brush, floss, gargle, nor eat on the upper left side for a week. It was all cleaned 6/3 by our holistic dental practice but I do have stained teeth now so this is timely.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Grace
Aloha Grace,
Thank you for your kind words of support! Hearing from kind people like you really helps us to know that our work is helping.
If you have full periodontal disease, you may want to check out our Healthy Mouth System which we created literally to help folks like you have the tools and education necessary to effectively address perio.
Yeah, you can definitely use kaolin on a brush with a few drops of our Healthy Mouth Blend. We plan to share some recipes soon regarding ways to incorporate kaolin into your DIY paste or powder. So, please sit tight and keep an eye here and we’ll share in an upcoming article soon.
Thank you!
I would LOVE for you all at Orawellness to look into the safety of activated charcoal as a teeth whitener. It is certainly effective as a whitener, and it feels very soft and fine, much like kaolin clay. But I stopped using it regularly because I couldn’t find any reputable information on its safety. Now I only use it for special occasions and try to swish with it rather than brush. Do you know if it’s safe to brush with regularly? Or at all? Thanks!
Aloha Emaleigh,
Thank you for asking! This is literally one way how we find new subjects to research and report to you, our readers. I have your request high on our list so you should be hearing about the safety of activated charcoal soon from us.
Thank you again for reaching out to us!
Thank you!
Very educational and helpful articles!
great luck with activated charcoal. developed horrible tea stains when transitioning off coffee with black/chai tea (dental hygienist thought she had heard that cardamom causes bad tooth staining..?) stains came right out with quicksilver Scientific’s ThioCarb-sadly, they no longer make that product. Now I use Takesumi Supreme bamboo charcoal-works almost as well.
curious to hear people’s thoughts on the acidity of charcoal? and also, re the use of calcium lactate as suggested as well.
What about activated charcoal? That’s what I use to whiten my teeth and it’s amazing!
What do you think about using a powdered calcium/magnesium product such as Calcium Lactate by Standard Process? I started using it along with my HealThyMouth Blend with the thought I could provide some topical minerals to be available for absorption and it seems to work well for whitening too. I wonder how abrasive it is?
Thank you so much for this series. It has been very educational and timely.
Is brushing with activated charcoal a safe/effective way to remove surface stains?
Hello Will and Susan,
as always thank you for the great information. I use Healthy Mouth Blend and I love it. My teeth however are not very white so would like a natural solution for this. I moved to Europe a number of years ago and have often wondered if ‘no chlorine’ in the tap water is a factor. I’m very happy that we do not have chlorine in the water but have thought this could be why, in general, the average North American has whiter teeth than the average European. I certainly can smell and taste the chlorine when I am brushing my teeth back in Toronto, yuk.
I checked out white kaolin clay on your Amazon link and see that it is cosmetic grade vs. food grade. Do you feel this is okay to brush with?
Also, I have used ashes from the fireplace/wood ashes and this, surprisingly works well at whitening teeth and is not abrasive. I stopped doing it as read somewhere that the ash is very acidic thus not good for the gums. Do you have any comments on this? I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thank you again,
Patricia
Activated charcoal has helped me keep my teeth stain free after I stopped using tooth paste years ago and started using the healthy mouth blend. How does that compare to white kaolin clay?