Oil pulling, also known as gandusha kriya, is a morning ritual – recommended by Ayurveda – for clearing bacteria from your mouth and promoting oral health and hygiene. Oil pulling is performed by swishing the oil around your teeth, tongue, and gums. Which oil? We’ll talk about that later in this blog. Oil pulling might sound typically modern, but this very concept of Oil pulling was first mentioned millions of years before in Authentic classical Ayurveda texts. Oil pulling, also known as gandusha kriya is mentioned under Dinacharya, a set of regimen that must be followed daily, is a morning ritual – recommended by Ayurveda – for clearing bacteria from your mouth and promoting oral health and hygiene. Oil pulling is performed by simply swishing the oil around your teeth, tongue, and gums in uniform motion in a synchronized manner just like a regular mouthwash. Which oil? We’ll talk about that later in this blog.

Are you taking proper measures to maintain your oral hygiene? Even after proper oral hygiene, do you still face dental troubles?

• Brushed your teeth – checked
• Flossed your teeth – checked
• Scraped your tongue – checked
• Oil pulling – wait, what’s that?

Maybe you have heard of oil pulling but don’t know how to do it properly, or you stumbled upon this blog post by accident, and now you are psyched up to know more.

What Happens During Oil Pulling Therapy?

Mouth is the starting point of your gastrointestinal Tract and leads to the stomach and other organs. Your mouth hosts over 600 species of bacteria. While some are good bacteria and make up the healthy microbiome in your mouth, the rest are detrimental to oral health and cause issues like tooth decay, bad breath, bleeding gums, etc. It is thus important to keep dental hygiene in check by flushing out all the detrimental bacteria and keeping the oral cavity safe.

Oil pulling helps you get rid of these bacteria via a simple phenomenon. The unicellular bacteria present in the oral cavity is enclosed by a lipid membrane that sticks to the lipid structure of the oil. When you swish the oil around your mouth, these bacteria detach from the soft tissues, attach to the oil, and eventually get flushed out when you spit the oil. The process is like how detergent removes dirt molecules from clothes.

When to do Oil Pulling?

When to do oil pulling? Should you do oil pulling before or after brushing? According to Ayurveda, It is recommended to perform oil pulling before brushing your teeth and scraping your tongue. If you were to choose between oil pulling at night vs morning, it should always be done in the morning on an empty stomach. It is only while you perform oil pulling an empty stomach, maximum enzyme rich saliva is released which helps to flush out toxins and bacteria from the mouth.