I tried oil pulling for a month—here’s what actually changed
What nobody warned me was the fatigue of the jaw. The oil shooting is deceively active. It is not only a question of holding the oil in your mouth – it is a full facial drive. For someone who was struck on their jaw with a hockey stick at school during a match (a moment of training that lives without rent in my temporo-mandibular joint), it was not ideal. Around the second week, I took it up to seven minutes and my jaw began to protest. I crossed like a martyr of marginal gains.
The advantages of oil shooting are read as a dream of well-being fever: whiter teeth, cooler breathing, reduced inflammation of the gums, improved digestion, clearer skin, clearer cognition. I approached them with caution. According to the dentist based in Mumbai, Dr. Tina Chhatpar, oil traction can be a useful add-on but not a replacement of real oral hygiene. “It is an excellent additional treatment,” she says, in particular for conditions such as gingivitis and periodontitis. “Gum diseases can be caused due to bacterial infection, so antibacterial qualities in sesame or coconut oil can help considerably.”
Although it has not reached the level of “illness”, my gums have not been happy in recent times. Years of dependence on nicotine and caffeine in addition to rage, my demons, each morning, had started to show their signs. At the end of the third week, my gums seemed more calm (I also consciously slowed down my brushing practice). Less redness. Fewer pockets.
My teeth did not look radically white. And they are not supposed to do so. “Coconut oil will not whiten the teeth or will not overthrow dental caries,” clarifies Dr. Chhatpar. “There may be an improvement in stains,” she says, but it is not a substitute for real dental treatments. The oil shooting will not erase your sins, but it could rub gently on the edges.
Dr. Kutteri explains: “Oil has a property reduction of inflammation … This is another reason why it could be good for heart health and brain function support and better cognition by stimulating the nervous system.” He adds that improving traffic in the mouth can create a feeling of warmth, which can help drain the sinuses and relieve the symptoms of headaches. My own headaches, generally gracked stress, dehydration and excessive horse tails, do not disappear quite, but perhaps it was too early to say it.
Well-being rarely offers quick solutions and oil shooting does not claim to be one.
There is something deeply insane in the firing of the oil. My neurodivergent brain cannot help but fix on imaging: a suspension of coconut oil and the physical incarnation of the swirling morning whirlwind around my mouth like a very niche horror film. However, unlike other modes of well-being, it does not require a change of personality. No subscriptions. No craft bottles with serif fonts. Just a spoonful of oil and the patience to blur.
Will I continue? Probably. Perhaps not with the consistency and zeal of someone who sells homemade oil traction mixtures online, but enough to keep it in rotation. If nothing else, it gave me a reason to stay still in the morning – my full and calm mouth, the jaw still slightly painful.
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