While coconut oil is a natural product that has been used for thousands of years in places such as India, the everyday use of coconut oil is only just becoming a trend in the west. Even then, coconut oil is mostly used as a deep conditioning hair treatment and a skin moisturiser. But, in fact, its benefits extend far beyond these uses, and it could be the case that specific uses of coconut oil could also improve your dental health and the way your teeth look.
Ingesting coconut oil. Coconut oil capsules can be found in most health shops, and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that digested coconut oil could actually help fight tooth decay. Streptococcus bacteria is a dominant form of bacteria that lives inside of your mouth and loves to cause decay, but the digested coconut oil has an antibacterial effect that fights against this particular strain of bacteria.
Oil pulling for teeth whitening. There are few people out there who wouldn't like to have a whiter set of teeth, as the $3 million value of the teeth whitening industry demonstrates. But there are many people out there who either can't afford or are scared about the treatments in professional whitening clinics. In this case, oil pulling with coconut oil could be the solution. The practice of oil pulling essentially involves swishing a tablespoon of oil around your mouth for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Whether or not this has any dramatic teeth whitening effect is highly debated, because swishing anything around your mouth for this length of time should remove bacterial matter that can stain the teeth. But there also suggestions that coconut oil pulling can make gums pinker, and this in turn makes the teeth look whiter.
Coconut oil for gum disease. It's not only a reduction in plaque and brighter teeth that coconut oil can help with, but also more serious oral diseases such as gum disease. Again, coconut oil pulling is the way to go. In the process, the oil will soak up the harmful bacteria and toxic waste products in the mouth so that your gums are left disease free. It is worth practicing this every day in order to notice a sustained benefit with the gums.
Considering that a tub of coconut oil is a fraction of the cost of teeth whitening treatments and store bought dental health products, why not try out its effects? If you're still not sure about using coconut oil for your oral health, talk to an experienced dentist at a clinic like Identity Dentistry.
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