Introduction
Coconut oil is said to help fight germs through its antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal as well as antiparasitic effect and is gaining more and more importance in naturopathy. Can coconut oil replace the daily cleaning of teeth with toothpaste? What are the side effects of coconut oil and to what extent are there long-term studies that prove the effectiveness of coconut oil in the oral cavity? Or is coconut oil possibly only a trend?
Why brush your teeth with coconut oil?
The lauric acid in coconut oil decomposes the fatty cell membrane of the bacteria and thus kills them. It is a long-chain fatty acid and works against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The antibacterial effect is however very small and should not be overestimated.
There are only a few scientifically proven results and studies that could prove a long-term success. Coconut oil is never considered an alternative to fluorides, which are proven to support dental health and reduce the risk of tooth decay. However, more and more people are being told that they use coconut oil – whether for hair, face, teeth or cooking. Coconut oil seems to be a new trend, but at least in the field of dentistry it cannot keep its promises.
How to use coconut oil?
The daily application with coconut oil is done by drawing oil. The user takes a tablespoon of coconut oil in the mouth and pulls the oil, which becomes liquid after a few seconds due to the heat of the mouth, back and forth between the teeth. This process should take about fifteen minutes to reach places that are difficult to reach, such as the interdental spaces. As the application takes quite a long time, it takes some getting used to by most users.
Do you get whiter teeth from coconut oil?
Lauric acid as a component of coconut oil has dissolving properties. Since the lauric acid is moved evenly between the teeth back and forth during oil extraction, it wears off something everywhere. This means that it dissolves existing plaque.
As a result, however, the hard tooth substance, the enamel, also dissolves and the superficial layers are removed. Since discolorations often accumulate on the tooth, a whitening effect can indeed be achieved, but this is very slight and comes at a high price: To dissolve enamel with acid to obtain brighter teeth is not in the medical sense. On the contrary: the detached enamel is not renewed – what is lost does not come back.
Furthermore, due to the application of the acid contained in coconut oil, the surface structure is no longer smooth, but rough, so that bacteria have an easy time attaching themselves to the tooth and causing caries. The tooth is weakened by the erosion of the enamel, which in a sense is a protective coating for the tooth. The protective layer becomes thinner and thinner, making the tooth sensitive to thermal and chemical stimuli.