Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 20;9(8):97.
doi: 10.3390/dj9080097.

Abrasion Behaviour of Different Charcoal Toothpastes When Using Electric Toothbrushes

Affiliations

Abrasion Behaviour of Different Charcoal Toothpastes When Using Electric Toothbrushes

Andreas Greuling et al. Dent J (Basel). .

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the abrasion behaviour of different charcoal toothpastes when brushing with electric toothbrushes on human enamel.

Materials and methods: A self-designed brushing machine was built using six commercially available electric toothbrushes in abrasion chambers. Each chamber was constantly supplied with a toothpaste-water mix. Pieces of human enamel, which were embedded in PMMA, were brushed for 4 h. Before and after brushing, profilometer measurements were performed in order to determine the substance loss due to brushing.

Results: The following calculated mean removal values (mean ± SD) were found: (4.6 ± 0.6) µm (Group C: Splat Blackwood), (3.2 ± 0.9) µm (Group D: Curaprox Black is White), (2.3 ± 0.7) µm (Group B: Sensodyne Pro Schmelz), (1.7 ± 0.6) µm (Group A: Water), (1.4 ± 0.6) µm (Group E: Prokudent Black Brilliant). A post hoc Tukey HSD test (p = 0.05) showed that the results for Group A/B/E, Group B/D and Group C each lie within subsets that differ statistically significantly from the other subsets.

Conclusions: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it can be stated that some charcoal toothpastes lead to significantly higher abrasion on human enamel, when brushing with electric brushes.

Clinical relevance: As low-abrasion toothpaste is generally advisable, and some charcoal toothpastes should be viewed critically with regard to their abrasive properties.

Keywords: abrasion; brushing; charcoal; tooth wear; toothbrush.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Custom-built automated tooth-brushing machine used in this study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Profilometer height map of embedded enamel sample before and after brushing (exemplarily). The red dots indicate the points used for a plane-level correction. The cut marks in the reference area were used as landmarks for a slight x/y shift (see Section 2.3).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Calculated enamel removal after brushing with different toothpastes. N = 9 for all groups. Groups are A: water, B: Sensodyne Pro Schmelz, C: Splat Blackwood, D: Curaprox Black is White, E: Prokudent Black Brilliant.

References

    1. Brooks J.K., Bashirelahi N., Reynolds M.A. Charcoal and charcoal-based dentifrices: A literature review. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 2017;148:661–670. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2017.05.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Greenwall L.H., Greenwall-Cohen J., Wilson N.H.F. Charcoal-containing dentifrices. Br. Dent. J. 2019;226:697–700. doi: 10.1038/s41415-019-0232-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Janardhana C., Rao G.N., Sathish R.S., Kumar P.S., Kumar V.A., Madhav M.V. Study on defluoridation of drinking water using zirconium ion impregnated activated charcoals. Indian J. Chem. Technol. 2007;14:350–354.
    1. Pertiwi U., Eriwati Y.K., Irawan B. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing; Bristol, UK: 2017. Surface changes of enamel after brushing with charcoal toothpaste; p. 12002.
    1. Palandi S.D., Kury M., Picolo M.Z.D., Coelho C.S.S., Cavalli V. Effects of activated charcoal powder combined with toothpastes on enamel color change and surface properties. J. Esthet. Restor. Dent. 2020;32:783–790. doi: 10.1111/jerd.12646. - DOI - PubMed