TikTok is hyping purple toothpaste for teeth whitening, but is it legit? Dentists explain. (2024)

Most beauty devotees know about the hack of using purple shampoo to help remove brassiness from color-treated hair. But a growing trend espouses a similar claim for whitening teeth. Purple toothpaste is all over TikTok right now, with fans swearing the bold color helps neutralize yellow stains on your teeth. Many videos show close-ups of people brushing with purple paste, along with impressive-looking before and after photos. A popular choice is Hismile V34 Colour Corrector, but there are a slew of purple toothpastes out there. Even popular brands like Crest have gotten in the purple toothpaste game.

But is this for real or just a load of internet-driven hooey? Dentists say there is something to it.

"There is some science to this, and it relies on the concept of the color wheel," Mark S. Wolff, dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. "If you put opposite colors on each other — like purple and yellow — they cancel each other out."

Purple and yellow are "complementary colors," cosmetic dentist Brian Kantor of New York City's Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor, tells Yahoo Life. "According to the color theory, when complementary colors are mixed, they create either white or black," he continues. "The purple color in this toothpaste neutralizes the tooth’s yellow tones, making teeth appear brighter and whiter."

Purple toothpaste can "make your teeth look whiter almost immediately" because it leave a thin purple film on the surface of your tooth, Wolff says. "It does not have any change to the tooth structure per se, but it does have some effect on how people see your teeth," Wolff says.

A caveat, though: While purple toothpaste can make your teeth look whiter, it's temporary. "The purple color doesn’t actually whiten your teeth — it's an illusion," Michael Kosdon, a New York City–based cosmetic dentist, tells Yahoo Life.

While Kantor says the science and theory behind purple toothpaste is sound, he points out that there are other ways to get your teeth as white as possible. "I am a believer that good hygiene and proper bleaching products are a better way to go, rather than placing dark staining products on your teeth to try and whiten them," he says.

But if you're looking for a quick pick-me-up, are nervous about tooth sensitivity with traditional whitening products or just want to refresh an already gleaming smile, Wolff says that purple toothpaste is worth checking out.

Interested in trying the trend? Here are some popular options:

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