Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Sep-Oct;11(4):65-70.

Oil pulling and importance of traditional medicine in oral health maintenance

Mustafa Naseem  1 , Muhammad Faheem Khiyani  2 , Hiba Nauman  3 , Muhammad Sohail Zafar  4   5 , Altaf H Shah  6   7 , Hesham S Khalil  8
Affiliations
Review

Oil pulling and importance of traditional medicine in oral health maintenance

Mustafa Naseem et al. Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2017 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Dental diseases have detrimental effects on the functionality and quality of life of individuals. In addition, a strong relationship has been established between various oral and systemic diseases. In fact, the prevention and treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease have been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease significantly. This goes beyond the role of oral health as a means to identify early manifestations of systemic diseases in the oral cavity. It highlights the necessity of maintaining an optimal oral hygiene to significantly modify the risk factors for serious systemic diseases. The use of oil pulling can be frequently found in ancient medical text and is supported by recent studies for its efficacy and long-term use for maintaining and improving oral health. This article provides an overview on the concept of oil pulling or oil swishing, its mechanism of action and a summary of the evidence available, which highlights the role of oil pulling in specific oral diseases. The goal of this review is to highlight the ancient procedure that has the potential to be used as an adjunct to conventional chemical means of dental plaque control, such as mouth rinses. Incorporating oil swishing as a component of daily oral hygiene can significantly improve oral and general health, specifically in lower socioeconomic groups and rural communities that may have interrupted access to health-care services and dental products such as dentifrices and mouth washes due to various factors; availability and affordability being the most important.

Keywords: Prevention; oil pulling; oral disease; oral hygiene.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Function and chemical composition of sesame oil
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical composition of coconut oil
Figure 3
Figure 3
Systemic effects of oil pulling
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Scully C, Ettinger RL. Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. Washington, DC, USA: Department of Health and Human Services, US Public Health Service; 2000.
    1. Sheiham A, Watt RG. The common risk factor approach: A rational basis for promoting oral health. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2000;28:399–406. - PubMed
    1. Li X, Kolltveit KM, Tronstad L, Olsen I. Systemic diseases caused by oral infection. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2000;13:547–58. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Engebretson SP, Vossughi F, Hey-Hadavi J, Emingil G, Grbic JT. The influence of diabetes on gingival crevicular fluid beta-glucuronidase and interleukin-8. J Clin Periodontol. 2006;33:784–90. - PubMed
    1. Kinane DF. Periodontal diseases'contributions to cardiovascular disease: An overview of potential mechanisms. Ann Periodontol. 1998;3:142–50. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources