Abrasive effect of activated charcoal-containing tooth whitening dentifrices. Literature review

There are toothpastes oriented to solve oral and dental problems, one of them is activated charcoal, an element that has recently become popular due to its properties, however, it is essential to consider the indications and contraindications of this aggregate, which leads to analyze the abrasive effect of different types of toothpastes with activated charcoal on the tooth structure and compare the amount of abrasive according to the RDA scale of toothpastes by means of a bibliographic review. The research is descriptive, qualitative. Articles were taken from journals indexed in scientific bases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed and Elsevier in English, Portuguese and Spanish with validity from 2017 to 2021, focused on the abrasive effect of toothpastes with activated charcoal on teeth, considering the inclusion criteria: articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese in force between 2017 and 2021, toothpastes with activated charcoal, tooth abrasion, reviews on tooth whitening and exclusion criteria: articles in languages other than those mentioned, old literature, tooth whitening with covarine, mouthwash with activated charcoal, dental floss, brushes with charcoal. To complement the research, toothpastes available in supermarkets in Ecuador were analyzed, where the particle size of the toothpastes was evaluated using the RDA scale. Thirteen articles compatible with the study were selected, of which 7 met the inclusion criteria. Likewise, 6 agree that toothpastes with charcoal are abrasive and 1 study contradicts this, concluding that activated charcoal has been shown to be abrasive to dental tissues as it causes wear at the level of the enamel, leaving it hypersensitive.