The Benefits of Oil Pulling and How To Do It
Oil pulling has become very popular over the past few years. What is it exactly is it?
Oil pulling is an ancient, Indian folk remedy claimed to whiten your teeth, freshen your breath and greatly improve your oral health.
It’s not hard. You swish oil (usually coconut oil or olive oil) around in your mouth for about 15 or 20 minutes. What does this do exactly? It’s said to improve your dental health. Using the oil like a mouth wash is actually said to decrease the amount of harmful bacteria in your mouth.
Here’s what you need to know.
Benefits Of Oil Pulling
Some of the benefits of oil pulling include decreasing the harmful bacteria in your mouth. Your mouth has thousands of kinds of bacteria. The ones that really cause a problem are those that cause plaque on your teeth.
A thin layer of plaque covering your teeth could be the reason for cavities and tooth decay.
Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums. Coconut oil has similar benefits. Another one-month study in 60 adolescents found that daily coconut oil pulling significantly reduced markers of gingivitis.
Bad breath. No body wants it but every one has it….at some point or another. Bad breathe is the smell of gases and chemicals in your mouth. Likely brought on by bacteria in plaque and gingivitis. It makes sense that if you kill some of those bacteria’s in your mouth, you’ll limit the amount of bad smells going on in your mouth.
What You Need To Know
Oil pulling has been proven to help improve your oral health, but it does not help to cure any sicknesses or illnesses unrelated to your mouth.
There are a few questions around whether oil pulling helps to whiten your teeth. There has been no evidence around that.
Is oil pulling safe for children? If your child is old enough to understand how to use oil pulling, similar to mouth wash, then it’s safe for them to use oil to oil pull.
Typically 1-2 teaspoons is used to swish around in the mouth, then spit it out, do not swallow. A tip – do not spit into your sink but rather in your garbage. Coconut oil gets harder and clunky when it dries, oil in general is thick and could create a clog in your drain.
Use your toothbrush to brush teeth and mouth wash to rinse! Happy pulling J