Dental Health with Oil Swishing

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Dental Health with Oil Swishing

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(https://www.wellbeingjournal.com/index2.php?option=com_content & task=emailform & i\

d=118 & itemid=1) By Bruce Fife, C.N., N.D.

 

Good news! You can now say " good-bye " to tooth decay, gum disease, bad

breath, loose teeth, and bleeding and receding gums, and say " hello " to a

bright

white smile and healthy pink gums. How is this possible? With coconut oil!

 

Believe it or not, a spoonful of coconut oil can clean your teeth more

thoroughly than brushing, flossing, and gargling with antiseptic mouthwash. In

addition, it will help prevent tooth decay better than fluoride, without the

toxic side effects.

 

Some people brush their teeth using coconut oil, but I'm not talking about

using coconut oil as a replacement for toothpaste. I'm talking about a whole

new way to keep your teeth white and your breath fresh, and prevent tooth

decay and gum disease. The method I'm referring to is called oil pulling. Never

heard of it? Well, it's about time you had.

 

Oil pulling really isn't new. It is a modified version of oil gargling,

which comes from Ayurvedic medicine and dates back thousands of years. Various

oils have been used for oil gargling, but for oil pulling, coconut oil works

best.

 

The process of oil pulling is very simple. You put a spoonful of coconut oil

into your mouth and swish it around for a period of 15 to 20 minutes. The

coconut oil is " worked " in the mouth by pushing, pulling, and sucking it

through the teeth. As you work the oil, it sucks up bacteria, toxins, pus, and

mucous. Don't swallow it! When you are finished pulling, spit it into the

trash.

I don't recommend discarding it in the sink or down the toilet because over

time the oil may build up and clog the pipes. After spitting, rinse your mouth

with water.

 

Oil pulling is best done first thing in the morning before eating breakfast.

After eating, brush your teeth as you normally would. Oil pulling can be

done one to three times a day, on an empty stomach. Just before meals is a good

time.

 

The coconut oil acts like a cleanser. When you put it in your mouth and work

it around your teeth and gums, it " pulls " out bacteria and other debris. It

acts much like the motor oil you put in your car engine. The motor oil picks

up dirt and grime. When you drain the oil, it pulls out the dirt and grime

with it, leaving the engine relatively clean. Consequently, the engine runs

smoother and lasts longer. Likewise, when we expel harmful substances from our

mouths, our teeth and gums work better and last longer.

 

We have billions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites living in our

mouths. There are over 600 species of bacteria alone that make our mouths

their home. Many of these bacteria produce toxins as by-products, which damage

the teeth and irritate the gums, causing inflammation and bleeding. An

overgrowth of these bacteria leads to tooth decay and gum disease, and

eventually

tooth loss. Discolored teeth, plaque (bacteria colonies), tarter (calcified

plaque), cavities, bleeding gums, sensitive teeth, and chronic bad breath are

all

signs of an overgrowth.

 

Despite regular brushing, flossing, and the use of antiseptic mouthwashes,

tooth decay and gum disease are major health problems. Gum disease and tooth

decay are among the most prevalent microbial diseases of mankind. According to

a study in the British medical journal The Lancet, gum disease affects up to

90 percent of the population.1

 

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that

moderate gum disease is found in 40 percent of children over the age of 12

years; nine out of every ten people have tooth decay; and, get this, 33

percent of adults over the age of 65 have lost all of their natural teeth. That

is

an incredible statistic. That means that by the time you reach 65, your

chances of having lost all of your teeth are one out of three! The odds that

you

will have lost at least half of your teeth by this age are somewhere around

50 percent.

 

Instead of pulling teeth, dentists are opting to perform root canals

whenever possible. A root canal is performed when a tooth is so badly infected

that

it dies. The lifeless tooth is hollowed out and filled, but remains in place.

Approximately 40 million root canal treatments are performed in the US each

year. At this rate everyone in this country could have at least five root

canals by the time they reach age 50. Obviously, we need to take better care of

our oral health.

 

Teeth are meant to last a lifetime, and they will if you take care of them.

As Weston A. Price, D.D.S., showed in his book Nutrition and Physical

Degeneration, people can have healthy teeth and retain all of them, even into

old

age. For most people, regular brushing and flossing isn't enough. Oil pulling,

on the other hand, is extraordinarily effective at removing harmful bacteria

and protecting the teeth and gums so that they remain healthy for a lifetime.

 

A study published in the Journal of Oral Health and Community Dentistry

demonstrates the effectiveness of oil pulling compared to other forms of oral

hygiene.2

 

The subjects in the study had mild to moderate gum disease and plaque

accumulation, typical of the population as a whole. They were instructed to

continue their normal home oral hygiene practices, along with oil pulling. Oil

pulling was performed once each morning for a period of 45 days. Plaque levels

and

the severity of gum disease were assessed periodically during the study. The

subjects were instructed to suck and pull the oil through their teeth for

8-10 minutes daily.

 

At the end of the 45 days, no adverse reactions to the teeth or soft tissues

in the mouth were found, indicating that the procedure caused no physical

harm. Most people would have assumed this, but the study gave confirmation.

Plaque formation was significantly reduced, with most of the reduction coming

during the later half of the study, indicating that the longer you do the

treatment, the better the results. Gingivitis (i.e., gum disease) was also

significantly reduced in all subjects, decreasing by more than 50 percent. The

researchers rated the changes as " highly " significant.

 

Mouthwashes have been shown to reduce plaque by 20-26 percent and gingivitis

by about 13 percent. Tooth brushing reduces plaque by 11-27 percent and

gingivitis by 8-23 percent.3 Oil pulling beats them both. Data from this study

shows that oil pulling reduced plaque by 18-30 percent and gingivitis by an

amazing 52-60 percent. The reduction in plaque using oil pulling is only

slightly better than that from antiseptic mouthwashes and brushing, but

reduction in

gingivitis is two to seven times better. So, oil pulling significantly

outperforms brushing and mouthwash as a means of oral cleansing. If the

subjects

had oil pulled for 15-20 minutes daily, as is normally recommended, and done

it over a longer period of time, the results would have undoubtedly been even

better.

 

While oil pulling can significantly reduce plaque and gingivitis, the

authors caution it shouldn*t be used in place of tooth brushing, but can be an

effective supplemental aid in a daily oral hygiene regimen.

 

Oil pulling isn*t only good at preventing oral infections, but can actively

fight them as well. The oil pulls the infection (bacteria, toxins, and pus)

out of the tissues, allowing the body to heal itself. Inflammation is quieted,

gums stop bleeding, loose teeth tighten, and pain and sensitivity vanish.

Teeth become whiter, and gums become pinker and healthier looking.

 

Many people can attest to the effectiveness of oil pulling. **I have always

had sensitive and really weak teeth,** says Tumi. **About three months ago, I

had a root canal and crown on a tooth on my left side and was due to fix

the opposite one on my right side.** She discovered oil pulling soon after the

dental work and began pulling daily. **You can imagine my surprise after a

couple of weeks when I noticed that I was actually chewing food on my right

side the whole time I was eating lunch! No tingling feeling and just an overall

healthy feel in my mouth.**

 

Barbara had four teeth extracted and soon thereafter started having trouble

with almost all the rest of her teeth. She began oil pulling daily. **The

result is unbelievable,** says Barbara. **My mouth is no longer out of

alignment, no pain, and my teeth are as white as when I was a child... I wish I

knew

about it before I had four teeth pulled; oh well, better late than never.**

 

Stephanie is another satisfied oil puller. ** have been using oil pulling

for about a month,** she says. **A few days after I started, I had a dental

appointment and showed early stages of gum disease (pockets that measured 6 in

at least five places). They wanted me to have $1000 worth of scaling and root

planing with antibiotics injected into the pockets. I told them I would think

about it, knowing that I would keep oil pulling. I went to my follow-up

appointment yesterday and I only had one pocket that was still a 6; the rest

had

decreased. Anywhere the hygienist would poke my gums before, they would

bleed, and now they are much better. The hygienist told me to keep doing what

I*m

doing, so I confessed about the oil pulling, which she had actually heard of

and now plans to try after seeing the difference in my gums.**

 

One of the first things people notice when they begin oil pulling is the

improvement in the appearance of their teeth. Besides teeth becoming whiter,

persistent stains and discolorations often fade. **The thing that I am so

excited about,** says Katie, **[is that] on four of my bottom teeth, at the

base of

the gums, I had bad decay stains. It looked so ugly to me, and I*ve been

really self conscious about it for years. Well, after the first three pulls,

they are 80 percent gone! My dentist told me that there was nothing he could do

for them. But I guess he didn't know about oil pulling!**

 

Chronic bad breath is a sign that the mouth is overrun by potentially

harmful bacteria. Brushing and antiseptic mouthwashes provide only temporary

relief

and often only mask the odor. **Not a morning passes without me working this

remedy,** says Sweet. **The first thing I noticed was the lack of a morning

breath, and a continuous fresh breath throughout the day.** Oil pulling puts

a quick end to bad breath. For that reason alone, oil pulling is enormously

useful.

 

For some people, the results from oil pulling are almost immediate, while

for others, the battle lasts longer. The reason for this is due not only to the

amount of bacteria in the mouth but to the type as well. Some people have a

larger number of the more troublesome microbes, including viruses and fungi.

Our diet plays a very important role in determining the microbial populations

growing in our mouths. Sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed vegetable

oils contribute to an imbalance in our oral flora.

 

The simple oil pulling procedure described here is a good start, but for

optimal oral health you also need a good diet, one rich in whole foods, as

advocated by the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation (www.ppnf.org). The

details

of the oil pulling process, along with dietary recommendations, aids for

healing chronic infections, and a procedure for detoxing heavy metals for those

who have amalgam (mercury) fillings or root canals, are outlined in the book

Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body through Oral Cleansing.

 

If you follow the suggestions as described above and in this book, when you

reach the age of 65, or 75, or even 105, you will continue to enjoy eating

the foods you love using all of the teeth you currently have. If you teach

these principles to your children, they will buck the trend in dental health

and

grow to adulthood retaining all their teeth, just as nature intended. ∆

 

Bruce Fife, C.N., N.D., is a certified nutritionist and naturopathic

physician. He is the author of 20 books including Coconut Cures and Oil Pulling

Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body through Oral Cleansing. He serves as

the director of The Coconut Research Center, _www.coconutresearchcenter.org_

(http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org) . All of Dr. Fife's books are available

from _www.piccadillybooks.com_ (http://www.piccadillybooks.com) .

 

This article is from the November/December 2008 issue of the Well Being

Journal. For annotations, see _November/December, 2008, Volume 17, #6_

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References

1. Pihlstrom, B.L., et al. Periodontal diseases. Lancet 2005; 366:1809-1820.

2. Amith, H.V., et al. Effect of oil pulling on plaque and gingivitis. JOHCD

2007;1:12-18.

3. Tritten, C.B., and Armitage, G.C. Comparison of a sonic and a manual

toothbrush for efficacy in supragingival plaque removal and reduction of

gingivitis. J Clin Periodontol 1996; 23:641-648.