Oil pulling is a traditional remedy originating in ancient India. The toxicity, adverse effects, and drug resistance associated with many modern pharmaceuticals has prompted the investigation of traditional remedies like oil pulling. Oil is available in the households and can be purchased at modest cost.

In oil pulling, you swish a tablespoon of oil in your mouth in the early morning before breakfast and in empty stomach for about 20 min.

The oil is ‘pulled’ and forced in between the teeth by swishing it all around the mouth.  At the end of the oil pulling session, the oil will become milky white and thinned out.  Then you spit it out and wash your mouth with tap water and brush your teeth normally. It is best not to swallow any of the oil because it contains bacterial toxins. Oil pulling is not recommended for children due to risk of oil ingestion or aspiration into the lungs.

How oil pulling works:

Oil pulling is believed to help in the excretion of toxic heavy metals by saliva. It is believed to activate salivary enzymes which absorb toxins ( bacterial toxins, chemical toxins and environmental toxins) and help excrete them through the large surface area of the tongue, but his mechanism does not seem very plausible. In the case of periodontal disease oil pulling may be beneficial by binding to fat soluble bacterial colonies on the teeth and gums and removing them by physical action.

Which oils to use?

Cold pressed organic oils are the best, such as sunflower oil, sesame and coconut oil. Some oils also have direct anti fungal and antioxidant activity

Since bacterial membranes are made of a kind of oily substance called a phospholipid, oils will attract the oily membranes of bacteria, cause them to clump to gather and make them easier to remove from the surface of the teeth.

So oil pulling exerts an effect of reducing plaque build up on the teeth. The oil also directly damages the cell wall of bacterial and kills them.  This anti-bacterial effect can reduce gingival inflammation and and bleeding gums.

Coconut oil actually contains a soap ingredient (Laurie acid) which reduces plaque adhesion and cleans the mouth. It also has anti-inflammatory properties. Coconut oil also has minimal adverse effects such as taste alteration and brown staining that is common with prescripion mouthwashes such as chlorhexidine.

Monolaurin in coconut oil is effective against microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Candida spp., Helicobacter pylori, Escherichia vulneris and Enterobacter.

Monolaurin can cause bacterial death by altering bacterial cell wall, penetrating and disrupting cell membranes and inhibiting enzymes related to energy production and nutrient transfer. Monolaurin also has anti-viral activity. It can dissolve phospholipids in the virus envelope and cause disintegration of viruses.

Olive oil contains vitamin A, E, K and phenols that have anti-microbial and antioxidativd effects.

Sesame oil contains sesame, sesamolin and sesaminol that have anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial function.

Studies on the effect of oil pulling on oral health:

One study by Anand in 2008 showed a 20 percent reduction in bacterial counts after 40 days of oil pulling (sesame oil was used) .

Peedikayil F.C., et al. studied the effect of coconut oil in plaque and inflammation in adolecents. They found that plaque and inflammation was significantly reduced after 30 days of oil pulling with 50% decrease in plaque and gingival inflammation ( this is similar to results produced by chlorhexidine, the most commonly prescribed prescription oral rinse)

Another group of researchers ( Asokan et al 2008) compared oil pulling with chlorhexidine mouthwash for two weeks on twenty teenage subjects. They found meaningful reduction in bacterial counts of s. Mutans after one and two weeks, however the reduction was more in the chlorhexidine group.

Oil pulling may also be effective in halitosis (bad breath): There are three bacterial special that are mainly involved in bad breath through proteolytic activity-They produce molecules that break down tissues and produce an odour. These species are Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia and/or Treponema denticola.

Volatile sulfur compounds that are products when tissues break down as a result of bacterial action, like hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulphide, are responsible for bad breath.

Sood et al (2014) in a study on sixty subjects found that sesame oil pulling was as effective as chlorhexidine in reducing oral malodorous and reducing the bacterial counts of the causative bacterial species.

Oil puling can bring improvement in oral hygiene when carried out properly and regularly and is a good adjunct to tooth brushing and flossing. It can reduce gingivitis, decrease harmful bacterial colonies, and reduce halitosis (bad breath). The one main disadvantage is the time it takes to perform oil pulling daily.