Oil pulling

[equanimity]

Does anyone else do this?  You just swish oil around in your mouth as you would mouthwash, but for like 20 minutes.  It kills bacteria and supposedly does other fun stuff like whiten teeth.  I've never noticed it whitening anything, but my mouth feels cleaner after doing it.  My first choice is coconut oil because it taste better than other kinds, but olive worked fine too.

At first it didn't seem to do much of anything, but then I would pull, spit most of it out (in the toilet, so as not to clog the drain) and then brushed with the remaining oil.  Much better than toothpaste alone imo.

Give it a try!

[Slave of the Beast]

It may have some use as a supplementary oral hygiene practice. There also appears to be no harm in doing it. However, it is a less effective anti-plaque and anti-bacterial agent than mouthwashes such as Listerine.

People making expansive and unsubstantiated claims about oil pulling are most likely full of shit.

[Vulture]

The potential with oil pulling is targeting specific microflora vs sterilization. It's not on the same level, but this is the same reason Gerhard Domagk blew medicine out of the water with Prontosil, because it killed harmful organisms and left healthy tissue alone. Ditto with Pasteur. My breath is at its worst 6-8 hours after using listerine, when the fucking bacterial growth curve peaks.

There's a bit of science supporting oil pulling, a lot of it foreign, some sketchy, but some in reputable journals too. Apparently effectiveness depends on the type of oil used and how long. It's possible a common substance is the ticket, just like how sulfanilamide was derived from a cheap mass produced industrial dye. There have also been attempts made at products that alter oral microflora to outcompete harmful bacteria, but none are really mainstream.

Also, this thread needs moar Vermin Supreme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKdp4-CFEDs

[Slave of the Beast]

The potential with oil pulling is targeting specific microflora vs sterilization. It's not on the same level, but this is the same reason Gerhard Domagk blew medicine out of the water with Prontosil, because it killed harmful organisms and left healthy tissue alone. Ditto with Pasteur. My breath is at its worst 6-8 hours after using listerine, when the fucking bacterial growth curve peaks.

That had crossed my mind; I don't use Listerine for that particular reason, I find brushing with toothpaste, flossing and repeatedly gargling with water to be a fairly adequate remedy re: bad breath.

The alternative is routinely sterilizing your mouth throughout the day with Listerine.

I prefer vodka.

[theKit]

Interesting. I always thought oil pulling was bullshit. Why should it matter how long you do it? Oil goes in -> touches bacteria -> does what ever the hell oil does -> done. The invested time seems to outweigh all the benefits: You could either a) use mouth wash for 20 seconds or  b) sit on your ass with oil in your mouth for 20 minutes. Even if you wash to revamp your 20 second mouth wash routine a few times throughout the day, you still come out better than the time it takes to oil pull.

Anyone ever heard of using liquid chlorophyll for getting rid of bad breath and body odor in general? I've tried it and it works. You notice a very 'baked bread' smell to your feces instead of that nose pounding 'omg shit' smell. If you have really bad under arm odor, that gets diminished significantly as well. Only problem i've run into is that I think it wares off or at some point you can no longer detect the difference between how you used to smell and the change in your smell so you really start to wonder if it was all in your head until you take a break and start up again. It also makes your shit babyfood green for awhile. I'm not sure if it really detoxifies in the way it claims, it might be the simple fact that it makes you shit regularly and that forces a lot of smelly stuff out of your body?
 

[equanimity]

Overuse of mouthwash may cause cancer.

[theKit]

Overuse of mouthwash may cause cancer.

Source?

If that's true overuse of vodka should cause cancer.

[John Smith]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_pulling

That sounds flocking retarded.

[equanimity]

Overuse of mouthwash may cause cancer.

Source?

If that's true overuse of vodka should cause cancer.

http://www.oraloncology.com/article/S1368-8375(14)00065-7/abstract

Apologies; it's associated with an increase in risk.

[Slave of the Beast]

Overuse of mouthwash may cause cancer.

Source?

If that's true overuse of vodka should cause cancer.

http://www.oraloncology.com/article/S1368-8375(14)00065-7/abstract

Apologies; it's associated with an increase in risk.

The report clearly states that data on the relationship between alcohol containing mouthwashes and oral cancer is inconclusive.

In comparison poor oral hygiene is correlated with heart disease although a direct casual link is yet to be defined ^1,2,3; oil pulling should not be the primary source of oral hygiene given the lack of data regarding its efficacy. My remark about vodka was somewhat tongue-in-cheek; alcohol abuse is a very significant factor in oral cancer⁴ and I certainly would not recommend gargling with the stuff. Alternatives include hydrogen peroxide (non carcinogenic⁵), saline solution⁶, and chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwashes⁷.


1) http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/9529805
2) http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/122/
3) http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/125/20/2520.short
4)14.Parkin DM. Cancers attributable to consumption of alcohol in the UK in 2010. Br J Cancer 2011; 105 (S2):S14-S18.
5)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16831183
6) Non carcinogenic, very weakly acidic so chronic use might soften enamel.
7)http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Maximum_Residue_Limits_-_Report/2009/11/WC500012062.pdf Chlorhexidine gluconate in very high ingested concentrations has been shown to be non-carcinogenic in animal studies (para. 13 and 14.)

[theKit]

I always wondered if using Hydrogen Paroxide was a safe alternative to mouth wash. I'm always afraid I'll accidentally swallow some, then oxygen will build up in my stomach and explode

Also feels like it makes gums recede.
Also feels very ticklie.

[LOVE]

I always wondered if using Hydrogen Paroxide was a safe alternative to mouth wash. I'm always afraid I'll accidentally swallow some, then oxygen will build up in my stomach and explode

Also feels like it makes gums recede.
Also feels very ticklie.

Well, yes it is a good oxident so depending on the concentration and, it can damage your gums, however if used correctly you shouldn't have too much issue in my awareness. 6-10% w/w is the usual for brushing teeth from what I recall, and is thought to be safe for regular use i.e once or twice a week from my understanding. Also note that damage can occur from gum disease, overly traumatic brushing and the use of mild abrasives such as bicarbonate soda which is often touted as part of a home whitening remedy in which H2O2 has also been popularised.

If you'd like information in depth, this is a solid place to start, and if you are familiar with effectively reading clinical or peer reviewed reports and aren't worried at stumbling through any jargon, Google scholar is a good resource for further enquiry.

[Soso0]

Have you tried car oil yet

[Autodidact]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/oil-pulling-your-leg/