Since sharing my crooked smileand knowing that others have scrolled past it, I have become more aware of what I can do to improve my dental state—or at least feel better about it whether any measurable change happens. Let me preface what might turn out to be a cautionary tale with medical professionals are much better suited to dispense sound advice than any non-sequitir blog sought out or found at random on the internet and one should seek consultation before trying to stave anything off with home-remedies that could become a serious and costly problem. With due warning, I took to heart my aggressive tooth-brushing habits and wondered if my gums weren’t receding. I was not exactly sure, since as with the dulling of the enamel, it’s a gradual process to look long-in-the-tooth. Aside from smoking and genetic-predisposition, however, brushing too hard is the top culprit for gum damage.
I researched a bit to become more conscientious about being gentler yet effective and kept running across the term “oil pulling,” which sounded likewise aggressive or complicated so I didn’t investigate at first. In German, it’s called
Ölsaugen or
Ölkur and is a technique based on the hygiene practices of Ayurveda and only calls for an undemanding and passive regiment of swishing a spoonful of vegetable oil around one’s mouth. There is some commitment that can’t be shorted: the session ought to last between fifteen and twenty minutes (that basic level of dedication to any task, I think, would make a difference) and preferably should be performed in the morning, after brushing (maybe reverse the order from time to time or see which way works better for you) but before breakfast and coffee and swishing, channelling and pulling the oil over and through one’s teeth in a purposeful way. The choice of cooking oil should be circumspect as well—maybe not Wesson but any quality oil will do. Many practitioners use a cold-pressed sesame oil or sunflower oil, which probably are also beneficial due to their high vitamin E content—I chose thistle oil (Distelöl), half recalling another recommendation from Ayurveda that one’s diet ought to be native to where one was born and plain old corn oil did not seem to be advisable. Some use coconut oil, too, but that seems a little exotic for me. The idea is that the swishing and churning action “pulls” toxins from one’s mouth and they are absorbed into the oil, spit out afterwards, since it’s full of poisons. I guess it is the exercise, rather than the details, that’s important and though I was a bit sceptical and reasoned that I could not make any judgments on the effectiveness until at least two weeks of keeping up the routine, after the first few times trying it, I was really impressed with how clean my mouth felt, like it had been to a mouth-spa, a bit sore in a good way from the motion and detoxed, not jarringly but in a way hard to describe, like a feeling of curious disorientation. At minimum, oil pulling is supposed to be good for overall dental health, whiter teeth, stronger gums and fresher breath. There is only a paucity of scientific evidence or study, but on balance, there sure are a lot of positive testimonials, and I think I will see for myself if this simple routine helps.
