I first heard about oil pulling when I was pregnant. It intrigued me and I didn’t really get it but I figured I would give it a go at some point. I just posted a blog of all of coconut oil’s great uses so here is another one to add to the list. 🙂

Growing up my parents took us to a dentist that we all referred to as “Dr. Dagger.” I don’t know if I’ve ever had a solid trust in dentists because they would tell me I needed things when I had no pain or issues and the one time I did have a pain it was dismissed as nothing until a few months passed and it ended up as an abscess and emergency root canal. Several years later another dentist told me that same tooth was still infected and needed a re-root canal to clear the infection. And I discovered my teeth always needed serious cleanings after my pregnancy even though my oral health care routine didn’t change much. I even bought the fancy tooth brush with a promise that would be the solution to my problems. It didn’t seem to be and now the next thing to purchase was a tooth pik. Arg! An article about oil pulling came across my news feed and her story really seemed to make sense to me. This article I read awhile back that says oil pulling is an Ayurvedic tradition and has been around for quite some time and touts oil pulling as a way to break up congestion and help with sinus problems as well (further digging shows at least anecdotally that for sinus relief you need to oil pull 2-3 times a day). So this is really the beginning of my oil pulling journey, day 2 to be exact.

What do you do?

Grab a tablespoon or so of coconut oil and put it in your mouth. Its cold out now so most likely it will be solid and take a few minutes to melt in your mouth. (this feels a little weird and slightly gross but once it melts its no big deal). Once the oil becomes liquid swish it around in your mouth for 15-20 minutes first thing in the morning. I know! This sounds like a huge time commitment. Here’s what I do, get out of bed pop coconut oil in my mouth and then go about my normal morning routine of getting dressed, making breakfast etc. By the time the eggs are done cooking its been at least 15 minutes. Make sure to spit your coconut oil into the trash and not the drain. Rinse your mouth a few times and then drink some lemon cucumber water.

oil pulling in action 🙂

Here’s what I noticed so far. My teeth look really white (someone noticed on day 1) and there are spaces between my teeth like how they look after a cleaning except without the gum soreness. I can’t ditch the toothpaste and floss so I’m compromising. My plan is to oil pull and brush in the morning and brush and floss in the evening. I will let you know how my next cleaning goes.

Do you oil pull? What benefits have you noticed? I’m curious!