Another Way to Clean Your Teeth

by Diane Hopkins on August 11, 2012

We’ve just started a new tooth cleansing practice at my house and it is really amazing! It is technically called “Oil Pulling” but “Coconut Oil Swishing” is what it is all about. Here’s how you do it:

Put about 1/2 teaspoon (estimate) of high quality coconut oil into your mouth first thing in the morning (right out of bed, before drinking or eating), and you can do it before each meal if you want. Once a day is great. If you are really motivated to heal cavities, before each meal will keep your mouth really clean! The first moment feels a little weird as the oil melts, but then it mixes with your saliva feels fine. Just swish, swish, swish—sucking it back and forth through your teeth.

If you can keep at it for 5 minutes, great! 10 minutes, better— and at 20 minutes, you win the prize! Stop, spit the foamy white stuff out on the grass (or in the trash, but not in the sink or toilet where it can eventually clog pipes). Do not swallow! It has germs in it.

Now rinse your mouth with warm water a few times—you can spit it out in the sink or toilet. The coconut oil will actually soak up bacteria in your mouth from your saliva, gums and teeth. A microscopic slide of coconut oil before and after swishing shows a scary collection of bacteria and other undesirables.

The downside: you can’t talk for 5-20 minutes. This can be a pro or con, depending on whose voice is turned off. And it gets your lips greasy, which is okay if you are used to using lip balm anyway, of which coconut oil is often an ingredient!

The benefits: your teeth will be amazingly clean and whiten with each swishing. Stain is often caused by bacteria and I noticed a whitening difference within 3 days. Many people claim oil-swishing softens built-up tartar, which eventually slides off the teeth, greatly reducing the need for dental cleanings. Removing toxins from your mouth improves the pH of your mouth, which is he big plus—facilitating healing of dental caries.