May Keep Gums Healthy By potentially cleaning harmful bacteria from your mouth, oil pulling may help keep your gums healthy. It might even improve gum health if you have a mild form of gum disease known as gingivitis.
One effective method for improving your gum disease and reversing periodontitis is oil pulling. Many individuals have implemented coconut oil into their daily regimen. Thanks to its mild, sweet flavor, coconut oil is preferred as a natural mouthwash over other oils such as sunflower or sesame oil.
Coconut oil, Sunflower oil, Sesame oil, and Olive oil are commonly used oils for the oil pulling activity. These are some of the natural ways to reduce gum pockets. They can help to minimize the unwanted bacteria from the mouth and keep the teeth clean.
Oil pulling prevents dental caries, gingivitis, oral candidiasis and periodontitis from occurring, helps to reduce tooth pain, fixes mobile teeth and achieves vigorous oral hygiene. Oil pulling when practiced regularly is believed to freshen and stimulate the mind and strengthen the senses.
There aren't any known physical side effects from oil pulling. However, you might notice a sore jaw or headache at first from the rigorous motion of oil pulling. If you swallow the oil, it could cause an upset stomach or diarrhea. Oil pulling should never be used in place of brushing and flossing.
By reducing the number of bacteria in your mouth, oil pulling can prevent cavities. Once damage from tooth decay has already happened, the oil cannot reverse this damage. A tooth with a hole can only be repaired with a dental filling.
In most cases, the damage will not be completely reversible, but if you follow the treatment and prevention plan laid out by your dentist, you should be able to see significant improvement. Most people are able to reclaim a 4mm to 5mm pocket depth with proper treatment and ongoing periodontal maintenance.
Reducing Inflammation
Plaque harbors the bacteria that leads to gingivitis. Oil pulling is an effective way to remedy inflammation because it decreases bacteria and plaque that contribute to gingivitis. You can further reduce inflammation by using oils with anti-inflammatory properties, which include coconut oil.
The research on oil pulling
One study involved 60 participants aged 16 to 18 with gingivitis who practiced oil pulling every day alongside brushing and flossing. There was steady improvement after day seven, and a 50% decrease in plaque formation and plaque induced gingivitis after four weeks.
Some oil pulling advocates claim that it can replace brushing and flossing completely, but dentists do not advise this. From a practical standpoint, the oil can't clean between your teeth thoroughly like flossing or using a Waterpik. And while it can help prevent the buildup of plaque, it can't remove it.
Oil pulling is one of the most effective ways to clean the mouth and it is used for long years. It can remove plaque on teeth and clean the tartar to much extent.
Scaling and root planing helps to shrink periodontal pockets and can heal gum tissue. This treatment prevents further infection, and keeps your teeth and gums looking and feeling great. After scaling and root planing most patients notice their gums recede less, and they are restored.
In some cases, it may be too late for gum grafting to save the gums. If your gums are severely damaged, receding so far back that they expose the tooth's root, or if there is significant bone loss from advanced gum disease, gum grafting may not be able to restore them to their healthy state.
The simple answer is, no. If your gums are damaged by, for example periodontitis, the most severe form of gum disease, it's not possible for receding gums to grow back.
A healthy pocket is within 2-3mm. More than 3 mm is a sign of periodontal disease and more than 5mm would require deep cleaning/root planning.
3 mm - 5 mm with bleeding: It's very likely that gums with these measurements have early gum disease. 5 mm - 7 mm with bleeding: Besides almost certain gum disease, bone loss and tissue damage are also possible. 7 mm+ with bleeding: Pockets deeper than 7 mm means advanced gum disease is certain.
2-3 mm is considered healthy and physiologic and anything over 5 mm usually indicates that the bone that supports your tooth has begun to be destroyed by the disease. To give you something to compare with, a pencil eraser is typically about 5 mm in diameter.
Obvious results are re-fixing of loose teeth, the stopping of bleeding gums and the whitening of teeth." As well oil pulling also removes dental infections, stops further tooth decay and reduces/eliminates sensitivity of teeth.
However, this practice could be harmful to teeth. We recommend not brushing until approximately 30 minutes after eating, and while oil pulling isn't quite considered eating, your tooth enamel has still had time to be affected by the oil in your mouth and can be more susceptible to erosion after this practice.
The oil needs to be swished around long enough for it to turn a milky white, which indicates that the bacteria has been “pulled” off.