Monday, April 21, 2014

To Oil Pull (random thoughts from a random hygienist)


Since my blog is called "toothgirl" everyone once in a while I will write on that very topic, teeth.  So here is the latest

Oil Pulling?
Have you heard of it?
It's the lastest fad, all over the internet and facebook.
What is it?
Well in short, it is swishing with oil (preferably coconut oil) for 20 minutes in your mouth to remove bacteria and toxins. It's suppose to have all kinds of dental benefits, including reducing cavities and  help with all kinds of other body aliments!

I have had a lot of people ask me what I think about it, and here is what I think.

It can't hurt
Cocunut oil has many benefits, we have a huge vat of it at our house!
I haven't read any scientific study though or even tried it,  I have just read the facebook fad going around, so I don't know of it's true concrete benefits.

What I do know is that if you have 20 minutes to swish oil around in your mouth you certainly have time to brush and Floss!

Oh that nasty word, floss!  I know I know, how dare I say it.

Floss-Your-Teeth2


Well well, what if I told you of all of that major benefits of flossing?  How it prevents cavities, gingivitis and gum disease!  Would it become the knew fad?  Would everyone post a link to my blog on the AMAZING benefits of all natural flossing?  Of it's healing powers to the body. No toxins or chemicals, no pharmaceutical medicine, and you know what, it's cheap, Cheaper than coconut oil! You can even get it for free from your dentist, or my house. And it takes about 2 minutes. 

Not only does it prevent cavities, and reduce gum disease and gingivitis, it gets rid of bad breath, prevents heart disease and stroke, it can even help prevent premature birth! And talk about removing toxins, it reduces lots of yucky bacteria throughout your whole body!  It is one of the cheapest and easiest thing you can do for your health!

 Your mouth is connected to your body, so when you have bacteria in your gums and in between your teeth it flows throughout your body.  So when you floss you get rid of a ton of that crap and feel better, not just in your mouth!  Brushing doesn't get rid of all that bacteria sitting in between your teeth, you have to floss, boo!

Oh but it hurts!  It hurts because you don't do it, I promise if you do if for 10 days in a row it will magically stop hurting.  It's just like exercising any muscle, it is sore at first.

And how do I know this?  beyond everything I was taught in school (which you may think is biased), I see it, I have seen it for almost 10 years.  I see the benefits when I look in someones mouth!  I can tell when people floss, amazing I know, but I see the direct benefits of their work, their great oral health!  And when people start flossing more and taking care of their teeth and gums they seriously start feeling better, all over!  I don't need a book or a scientific study to show me that, I have seen tangible proof over and over and over!!

And would you believe people who floss live longer? because if you have teeth and can eat healthy foods and have less bacteria in you mouth you live longer! So amazing!

So as I am not condemning oil pulling in the least, I'm just also encouraging that basics, what you have always known, what is super cheap and super beneficial, floss!

Wahhoooo #toothgirl

2 comments:

  1. That sounds gross. I'd rather floss. And I hate flossing so that's saying a lot. LOL

    Oh, and thanks to you (you inspired me) I've been taking good care of my kids' teeth and they just had their first visit to the dentist this week and NO cavities! :-)

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you, it always makes my day!