How to get whiter teeth with coconut oil

If you haven’t snapped up a bottle of cold-pressed coconut oil yet, it’s time to make a beeline for the supermarket. Not only does this inexpensive oil taste great in cooking, improve the health of your hair, skin and body, and even work wonders in the bedroom, but did you know it also has amazing benefits for your oral health, too? Honestly, what can’t coconut oil do?!
The latest teeth-whitening trend being embraced by Hollywood’s A-list - including Lauren Conrad, Shailene Woodley, and Gwyneth Paltrow - is called oil pulling. Sounds strange, right? Well, here’s the lowdown on how it works and why you should try it…
What is oil pulling?
Oil pulling is a method of putting a tablespoon of cold-pressed coconut oil in your mouth and swishing it around for 15 to 20 minutes while pushing and pulling the oil between your teeth. You then spit the oil into the bin (not the sink or toilet as it can clog) and brush your teeth as normal.
What are the benefits?
Oil pulling works to reduce the amount of harmful bacteria in your mouth, reduce plaque and gingivitis, improve bad breath, whiten teeth, and make teeth appear more shiny and healthy-looking.
Does it work?
I put this trick to the test for two weeks and spent each night swishing coconut oil around my mouth in the hopes of getting my own Hollywood-worthy smile. When I tried it for the first time, it felt strange putting a spoonful of hard oil in my mouth, but it quickly melted. At times it was tedious having to swish the oil around for what seemed like such a long time, but I got used to it more and more each night. It’s also tricky trying to not swallow the oil while swishing! Overall, I have definitely found that my teeth and gums feel healthier and cleaner, and my breath is fresher. Also it seems that the amount of plaque build-up on my teeth has reduced, and think they are looking whiter and shinier than before. What do you think of the results?
Do you like the sound of coconut oil pulling? Will you be trying this teeth whitening trend?
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169 Member Comments
Woah!!! That's a huge difference! Man .. I have coconut oil and I use it in my NutriBullet shakes but I can't imagine having that in my mouth in the more solid form on its own for that long. It's so hard to even wash that off my hands when a tiny bit touches them haha. I've used coconut oil to remove make up tho and it works beautifully ! I might stick to eating it .
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There's a slight difference with the result's but overall it has won me over, I prefer using mouth wash & toothpaste for whiter teeth then this.
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And the uses for coconut oil just keep coming. Fifteen minutes with a mouth full of oil sounds rather unpleasant, but I suppose you never know until you try.
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I don't think I want to do it. Having a mouthful of oil for 15 minutes is a long time, and I imagine it would be very unpleasant.
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I have heard about coconut pulling before
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Great article. Thanks for the advice
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The results look good but I'm not keen on the process.
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I cook with it sometimes, will that help lol
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I have heard of oil pulling method before. It looks promising but the thought of putting oil in the mouth & swishing it around stops me from trying this.
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Hmm I have heaps of coconut oil at home and now I have another use for it! It's great to see that since household products can be used in such ingenious ways although I'm not sure if I can be bothered swishing for that long...
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It's such a looong time! I do have some coconut oil sitting around- maybe I'll try it eventually. The picture would be more accurate if the lighting was the same for both though.
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Sounds amazing. Maybe I should try this.
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Doesn't seem pleasant to swirl oil in your mouth for 20 mins
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I am going to try it, but maybe just for 10 minutes. Coconut oil is a wonderfood so I don't doubt it will do very good to our teeth.
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The results look really good but 20 min? That is far too long.
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I love it and its easier than whitening strips, but I think the whitening isn't as strong
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Seems like a lot of time and effort, something I won't be bothering to try.
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Seems like a lot of time and effort, something I won't be bothering to try.
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Does this actually work? Or does anyone else have any other methods i could try please?
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That would be difficult not to swallow some or all of the oil, don't think I would be to keen to try this as i wouldn't last 20 minutes swooshing the oil around.results are good.
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Hmm 20 mins sound like a long time. Brush the teeth with coconut oil maybe, but swishing it around in the mouth for that long is probably not for me.
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I've been doing this for a couple of months and there's a real improvement to the whiteness of my teeth and my breath smells better (i think anyway, hard to tell)... the first few times i did it, it wasn't the the nicest but you get used to the feeling after a while and kind of dont notice ur doing it :) its not gross when you get used to it.
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I bought coconut oil for this purpose but only used it a few times. It is an odd sensation but I didn't find it too unpleasant. I need to be a bit more disciplined and start using it again.
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