Is Oil Pulling More Effective Than Brushing Your Teeth?
Posted on: 15 April 2016
The Ayurvedic art of oil pulling is considered to be good for your oral health. It removes oral toxins from your teeth, gums and soft tissues, helping to keep your teeth and gums clean and healthy by managing the bacterial balance in your mouth. Given that oil pulling may be able to do things that your toothbrush can't, you may be wondering if you can switch brushing and flossing your teeth for a daily oil pull. Is this a good idea?
Oil Pulling Targets Toxins Your Toothbrush Can't Handle
When you oil pull, you swish oil around your mouth to cleanse it. Toxins in your mouth stick to the oil as you swish it around. Once you spit out the oil at the end of a pull, the toxins the oil has trapped are spat out with the pull liquid. This removes them from your mouth and prevents them from travelling elsewhere in your body. From a dental perspective, this may improve your oral health and remove bacteria that may cause tooth and gum problems such as decay and inflammation.
While your regular dental care routine of brushing and flossing may also help get rid of some nasty bacteria in your mouth, you may find that oil pulling is a more effective way of removing toxins. According to Dentistry IQ, the fatty membrane that surrounds many oral toxins is attracted to the fatty oil you swish. These toxins stick to the oil like a magnet making their removal easier.
Oil Pulling Reaches Parts Your Toothbrush Can't Reach
While oil pulling may not seem all that extreme when you do it, the swishing movement you build up during a pull pushes and pulls the oil all over your mouth quite forcefully. The oil can get between your teeth and around your gum line very easily, potentially reaching areas that regular brushing or flossing can't clean effectively. For example, the oil also works on toxins located on your cheeks and tongue, allowing you to remove bad stuff from all areas of your mouth.
Oil Pulling Isn't a Perfect Solution
While oil pulling may cleanse your mouth in different ways to brushing and flossing, the process doesn't actually clean your teeth. You still need the slightly abrasive scrubbing action of a toothbrush to really clean your teeth effectively; you also need to floss regularly to keep gaps between your teeth clear and free from debris.
According to the Dental Care Network, dentists remain sceptical about the oral health benefits of oil pulling but have no issues with you pulling oil as long as you make the procedure part of your regular dental health routine and don't neglect brushing and flossing twice a day. Apart from anything, you may be desperate to get rid of the oily residue left in your mouth after an oil pull and the most effective way to do this is to brush your teeth once you're done.
Talk to your dentist for more information.
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