Last summer, at the Allergy and FreeFrom Show, I was enthusing with a stand visitor over the wonders of coconut oil, when she somewhat started me by telling my that she also used it to clean her teeth! Well, I fry with it, bake with it, spread it on my toast and use it for cleaning my face – but clean my teeth with it? That is just weird…
So I was somewhat gobsmacked to come across a report from the Athlone Institute of Technology that one of their teams, led by a Dr Damien Brady, had found that ‘digested coconut oil is able to attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay’ and that they think it could be incorporated into toothpaste.
And it seems that partially digested coconut oil is not the only thing that could be good for your teeth. Previous studies have shown that enzyme-modified milk was able to reduce the binding of other bacteria to tooth enamel. However,the researchers have particular hopes for their enzyme-modified coconut oil as colleagues have found that it also damages the yeast Candidia Albicans which causes thrush; they hope that it may interact with some of the Streptococcus bacteria too.
Gosh – will I now go and clean my teeth with coconut oil? Much though I love it, that concept takes a bit of getting used to…
Yes, Michelle, the mere thought of it. Ugh. I did read this when it came out and wondered where we might get the enzyme modified coconut oil from as it seems to be that rather than unmodified oil that did the trick. I suppose you could always add enzymes to coconut oil but we don’t know what enzymes were used. Interesting.
You are right, Micki – when I re-read it, it appears to be the digested coconut oil which does the trick – well the enzyme modified anyhow. But where do those enzymes kick in? In the mouth/saliva? Or in the stomach? If the latter then actually cleaning your teeth with the oil would not do you a lot of good…..
Here is a great link to using coconut oil and other ingredients added in to the mix because it explains what each ingredient does, and is not complicated to make.
http://www.breakthematrix.org/toothpaste.html
I’m going to give it a go, and will post on my blog how it turns out. I already have the food grade hydrogen peroxide, available from the web, and just need to get the comfrey. I have made my own toothpaste in the past with essential oils such as myrrh and peppermint oil and French green clay, but coconut oil makes perfect sense. Maybe I’ll experiment and make with both coconut oil and clay. Granulated kelp is another great thing to add.
The link above uses Coconut oil, Baking soda, Food-grade hydrogen peroxide, Xylitol (optional) or Stevia (optional), Sea salt (optional), Essential oil (optional), Comfrey leaf – if dried use boiled herb water and a few leaves. If fresh, mash into a paste and add to toothpaste.
Word of warning: don’t use hydrogen peroxide if you have mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth. You can use colloidal silver instead.
As to enzyme activated coconut oil, not sure its really necessary, especially if you make sure you are eating lots of fermented foods such as sauerkraut, preferably a little bit with each meal.
From what I have read its best to make a powdered batch, and then add the wet ingredients in your palm as you need it to make a paste
Gosh….. Sounds amazing! will wait to hear how you get on – please remind us to check in to your blog!
I do what is called “oil pulling” intermittently – this is a traditional Indian technique. You squish a spoonful of coconut oil around in your mouth for about a quarter of an hour – I do it whilst reading the newspaper – and then spit it out. It is supposed to be very good for keeping the mouth in good condition. I do it when I have occasional twinges in the teeth area and it seems to get rid of the twinges. Even if the twinges would have gone away of their own accord since I have been doing this my dentist and my dental hygienist have each independently remarked on the good condition of my gums. As I will be going to the dentist shortly I must get back to doing it!
Well, that sounds a definitely better option that trying to ‘wash’ your teeth with coconut oil – and would sort of tie in with the enzyme/bacteria theory as, over the course of your 15 minutes presumably the enzymes in your saliva would have had plenty of time to break down the coconut oil and liberate the beneficial enzymes?
I hadn’t read about the theory above before. All I knew was that coconut oil was said to be anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungicidal. It also makes my teeth whiter!