Ultimate Guide to Activated Charcoal: Benefits and Uses

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Tooth and Mouth Care
Posted by Debbie (London) on 02/21/2018
★★★★★

Hi, I've been doing exactly the same and it's brilliant. I've been suffering with an abcess which I have used the same method on and it really helps. The only thing, which has thrown me a bit, is I've just read that the paper used for the teabags contain plastic in them! Nightmare! I've decided to start using coffee filter paper instead.


Tooth and Mouth Care
Posted by Vicky (Ohio) on 03/02/2017
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I couldn't live without activated charcoal. It is so good for so many things. I buy a box of 100 cheap tea bags, I cut the top off of them and dump out the tea and discard. I then put about a teaspoon of activated charcoal in the empty bag, fold over the top and tape it with scotch tape. I keep them sealed in an air tight container. If I get any tooth or gum pain, sore throat or signs of thrush I wet one of of the charcoal filled bags and place on the sore area, I change it after several hours or even sleep with it in all night. AMAZING!! This stuff really works! I have also wet the bags and put on bee stings etc. Just remember charcoal only works when it is kept wet, so if you are using it for a bite or sting you need to keep the bag moist by covering it with some type of plastic wrap etc.


Tooth and Mouth Care
Posted by Patricia (Las Vegas, Nv, Us) on 07/08/2011
★★★★★

Thanks to some other posts about making a paste from either charcoal or slippery elm and applying to your tooth, I've come up with another strategy. I took a paper coffee filter and cut it in strips a little more than an inch wide. I fold it so there is room to fold a small section over the top like a long, skinny evelope. I add either the charcoal or the slippery elm then fold over the top. Wet the strip with water. Then I cut it into smaller strips- about an inch and place between my lip and gumline.

Dealing with a dental infection and cavitation issues- this was a miracle. I could feel it start to draw immediately. I make a few long strips up at a time, wet them to seal it and cut them to the size I want as needed.


Tooth and Mouth Care
Posted by Keith (Orlando, FL) on 10/05/2006
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Was reading the remedies and just wanted to add the following: I am a medical missionary that uses natural methods of healing. I encounter several different diseases and sickness in my line of work.

One remedy that I have never seen fail for toothache pain, is charcoal. It will stop severe toothache pain in about 20-45 minutes in most cases! I will give you an example with my wife. She begin to have tootheache pain last year (2005) around the time of thanksgiving. She began to call dentists for an appointment; however, the soonest that she could get an appointment was 2 weeks! To make a long story short, the pain became unbearable. It radiated all the way to her temple on the side of the bad toothe.

So I took activated charcoal, added a little water, stirred to a paste consistency, placed it on a gauze(a piece of cotton t-shirt could also be used) and placed it directly over the toothe. I had her press down very gently. I then offered a prayer.

In about 12-15 minutes the pain that was radiating up to her temple begin to subside. In about 20-30 minutes my wife, who had been in such great pain, that she was in tears, and was unable to even sleep, dropped off to sleep.

The next day we also started her on a program of drinking 2-3 glasses per day of a table spoon of the charcoal mixed with a glass of water. She did evidentally go to the dentist only to find that a small cavity had exposed a nerve, and infection had set in.

The charcoal worked on the infection because it is the inflammation that causes the pain. So by pulling or drawing the poisons from the infection(the underlying cause) the inflammation is addressed.

A friend of mine, who is also a very experienced medical missionary, with more than 30 years of hands on experience, even running a natural clinic in Tennessee for a long time, and having a 45-50% success rate with 4 stage cancer, (conventional success rate with 4th stage cancer is about 5%" gives the following alternative for toothache pain and abcess.

These are direct quotes: "Mix 3 tablespoons charcoal,1/2 teaspoon clove oil, 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon olive oil (enough to make a paste), and 1 teaspoon of golden seal. He states: " This remedy is strictly for pain in the jaw or tooth pain. Pack this around the tooth that is giving you problems. If you can cover the tooth up it will generate heat. That will remove the pain faster than any toothache remedy. Try it. You will feel the heat and you can go wash your mouth out. If you are in a lot of pain the heat is comforting. The pain of the poultice drawing is less than the throbbing of the toothache.[The mixture] should be quite thick, about the consistency of natural peanut butter. You want to be able to mould it around the tooth, so that it will stick."

The next is for an abcess specifically.

His words: "If you have an abscess with a lot of swelling, you cannot get that tooth pulled until you get the abscess under control. This recipe is famous for getting that abscess down 3 parts Slippery Elm, 2 parts baking yeast, 4 drops cloves, 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Add a little water, enough to make a paste. It will be gummy due to the slippery elm. Then pack this mixture around the gum. The slippery elm, like charcoal, draws the inflammation, the cayenne stimulates the cells around the tooth to release toxins and the cloves are added for the reputation as a pain remedy, especially in toothache.