With more than 39 million Instagram followers, 31-year-old platinum-selling rapper Drake has a ton of fans and of course, more than a few haters. While he’s obviously too busy to respond to every single hater, he found the time to respond to one comment aimed at his smile.
Drake recently posted a photo of himself with a huge smile splashed across his face. If you look closely, a small speck of something-something is visible on his front tooth, which one of his followers said his teeth look dirty.
But when Drake responded with “I have a pink diamond in my tooth. I brush with activated charcoal before any club night where I will see baddies know dattttttttttt,” it sent many fans and others alike wondering how they can get a great smile too.
Activated charcoal toothpaste or charcoal tooth powder (think baking soda, but like charcoal) is only around 12 dollars, and simple to use. You can find it here.
Because it’s so porous, activated charcoal is sometimes used in emergency rooms to treat certain kinds of poisoning and overdose—by “soaking up” the poison, charcoal prevents it from being absorbed into the stomach. By this logic, some people believe activated charcoal can also be used to soak up toxins in the body (or in this case, stains on the teeth).
Unlike the little bricks you use for your backyard barbecue, activated charcoal’s enormous surface area is dotted with the numerous nooks and crannies that draw in and trap toxic substances in your gut like a sponge, preventing them from being absorbed by the body by approximately 47 percent. The bad stuff is then carried out with your next bowel movement.
Although there have been no long-term testing of activated charcoal, dental hygenists are saying that it may not be as strong as an office-whitening treatment, it can be good for surface stains like coffee, red wine, tobacco and dark-color foods.
Here's how to start using it: First, break open capsules of activated charcoal, mix the powder with water, then...
...brush the thick black paste directly onto your teeth. Others recommend swishing the powder around in your mouth or using a special toothpaste containing charcoal. After three to five minutes, rinse away the charcoal (and stains).
With that said, because charcoal is a naturally abrasive ingredient, if you do decide to use activated charcoal toothpaste, dentists agree that you should do so cautiously and sparingly. Brush with it no more than once a week, and not for an extended period of time, even if your teeth feel normal.
Activated charcoal shouldn’t replace everyday teeth cleaning and regular visits to the dentist. Just like Drake said he uses it for high profile nights out on the town.
The important part of brushing and flossing is the physical removal of plaque. The toothpaste you’re using, from a dentist’s point of view, delivers fluoride to teeth. Fluoride in your toothpaste is nature’s cavity fighter and can cut tooth decay by up to 40 percent.