I have heard about this old Ayurvedic practice called Oil Pulling. Oil pulling traditionally uses sunflower or sesame oil, which you put a teaspoon in your mouth and swish it around in there for about 20 minutes each morning. The benefits have shown to detoxify your mouth. Pulling and cleaning bacteria, making gums healthier and pinker and whitening teeth. But a healthy mouth effect the entire health of our bodies from our digestive system to inflammation in the body.
I was drawn to oil pulling primarily for the health of my teeth and gums. I have a receding gum line and especially on my right side upper teeth it feels like the root is very close to being exposed. When I use a toothpick high up on that area it is sensitive to the touch. The gum line above that same tooth seems little "rougher" texture then the other areas of my gums. I have discoloring to my teeth and they feel like they move around and shift a lot easier these days. So I am going to experiment with oil pulling.
Today was day 1. I took a teaspoon of coconut oil straight from the jar and put it in my mouth. I was careful not to take too much, I didn't want to have a big glob of oil in my mouth at once. I began trying to swish it around and through my teeth but found it kind of hard. So I googled oil pulling and found a website that explained pull gently with the oil really if it hurts your jaw you are trying to hard. Just move the oil slowly from side to side use your tongue and gentle through your cheeks. That helped.
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| Me! Day 1. Yay Health! |
The first thing I noticed is, it wasn't that bad of a taste. I used Garden of Life Organic Coconut Oil which tastes pretty good. I swished for 10 minutes. During the first 10 minutes, I notice that my sinsus started to drain which was hard not to pull the phelem into my mouth (gross I know) so after that I spit it out. I tried another teaspoon for another 10 minutes and the same thing happened. But before that became a big problem, I was able to get the oil to be milky and a bit thicker consistency, which is what they say happens when you are done pulling for that round. So then, I spit it out, rinsed my mouth with water and gently brushed my teeth with all natural tom's toothpaste. So to be continued. Can't wait to see if my gum and teeth change. To be continued...
For more information and specific directions about oil pulling I found this one
