I want to stress that this is MY experience and the nature of things being what they are – my experience may not be the same as someone else.
I do not wish to be disrespectful to the many voices who speak highly of oil pulling. I only wish to report my experience. Please do not be offended if you have a different experience with oil pulling than I do.
I’ve experimented for a good 3 weeks with oil pulling for the purpose of learning its affect on dental health.
The oil pulling seemed to stain my teeth which indicates that it promoted the accumulation of plaque. It did not matter if I did the oil pulling before or after cleaning my teeth. The staining seemed to be less when the oil pulling was done after brushing as opposed to before. But there was still staining.
Once I stopped some of the stain on my teeth lifted from my regular oral care routine.
Based on my personal experience, I am going to have to put oil pulling on the shelf of ‘not such a good idea’ for dental health.
Again, I want to stress that no two human bodies are the same. Perhaps someone else will have different results.
This is not to say that oil pulling is not good for other problems. I do not know – I only know that it did not work for me in regards to dental health.
I do admit that subjectively, it may have done something for my energy levels and it seemed to help my eyesight improve slightly – but the effect was temporary, it did not last.
I used sunflower oil, cold unrefined. I would take a swig 1 to 2 times per day and swish around until it became like water and then I would spit it out and rinse my mouth thoroughly.
The stain was noticeable in a short period of time using this routine and it did not go away until I stopped the practice.
Stains and plaque build-up go hand-in-hand. Plaque build-up can help to increase the accumulation of the anaerobic bacteria responsible for causing tooth decay, bad breath and gum disease.
You may comment below if you would like. Again, I stress that this is my experience and I am reporting it as such. The experience of others could be different.
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David Snape
Author: What You Should Know about Gum Disease
ISBN: 978-0-9814855-0-8
Tags: oil pulling, sunflower oil
I have oil pulled for two days now.First day plaque was bad around teeth.Next day it isn’t forming to any degree.My teeth shine.They seem cleaner then they get with brushing and flossing.I would say give it a real good try.It may take some time to remove the gunk that is deep down.I used a canola oil that I had at home,it has a little olive oil in it.I am going to try coconut oil,and some herb oils also.
Hi Karen,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings on this. I appreciate your willingness to speak out on this topic. So many remain silent and passive.
I did not have good results and I experienced more plaquing as a result of experimenting with oil pulling. I also used one of the recommended oils which is sunflower oil. Olive oil and canola oil are not one of the recommended oils by the man who pioneered the oil pulling technique.
Please let us know how you do at your next periodontal exam if you continue with the oil pulling until then. Typically, a lay person doesn’t know what he / she is looking at when it comes to plaque and tartar build up. Since you probably don’t know what your pocket depths are right now it will be difficult to compare. But, when you go in for your next periodontal exam, let us know about your pockets and maybe we could make a better judgement based on that.
However, as I stated before, I saw a decrease in the health of my gums from utilizing oil pulling. I understand that others will not agree and may even get angry about me saying this. Please understand, I am simply telling you what MY results are. If you are getting different results, that is great.
But, unless you are a hygienist or dentist, I have to be cautious about what you believe is happening in regard to plaquing. The reason why is I have met plenty of people who swear they only have gum disease in this “one little area”. It doesn’t work like that. When they go to the periodontist, they find they have this problem throughout their mouth. This is why I say the typical person doesn’t know what they are looking at.
Peace and good will Karen. I’m just concerned about your periodontal health as well as that of the others who find this site.
I have shared what MY experience with oil pulling has been -that is not to say that others couldn’t have different results.
Best wishes for the brightest future.
David Snape
Author: What You Should Know about Gum Disease.