“Pseudoscience” or “quackery” are some of the words critics assign to oil pulling. While it should not replace the brushing of teeth, a growing number of scientists agree that this low-cost intervention to gum diseases and promoter of overall well-being has oral health benefits.
Dating back 3,000 to 5,000 years, oil pulling comes from the Indian medical tradition of Ayurveda. It is a technique by which a certain type of oil is swished around in the mouth cavity for a certain amount of time, then the oil is spat out. Oil pulling is followed by other oral hygiene techniques such as the brushing of teeth, flossing, and scraping of the tongue.
