Side effects
Side effects caused by the regular use of coconut oil are largely due to the lauric acid it contains. Lauric acid dissolves hard tooth substance, which cannot be reproduced and rebuilt. The tooth enamel serves as a protective coat for the tooth itself.
If its layer thickness decreases, the tooth reacts sensitively to stimuli such as heat, cold or sweetness, i.e. pain is triggered. The surface of tooth enamel is usually very smooth. However, acids make it rough – as is the case with coconut oil.
Now bacteria can attach themselves more easily to the tooth and cause the development of caries. If you take too much coconut oil orally, i.e. if you regularly swallow large amounts of oil, your body is threatened with an increase in blood pressure and cholesterol. Thus heart diseases can develop in the worst case, which affect themselves as heart attack or impact accumulation. Also intestine illnesses such as failure can be a consequence of a too high use and associated with it the consumption of Kokosöl. In the case of an allergy to coconut oil, the use of it as a dental care product can cause an allergic shock that can be life-threatening.
Can coconut oil replace toothpaste?
Coconut oil can by no means replace brushing your teeth with toothpaste. Toothpaste has always been improved in its effect and compatibility and is optimally adapted to dental care. The addition of fluorides is also important, as these have a caries prophylactic effect and support the tooth enamel.There are recipes for toothpaste in which coconut oil is combined with turmeric and also salts or baking soda are added. The toothpaste then acquires a highly abrasive, i.e. abrasive character overall and is therefore unsuitable for dental care.
Scientific evaluation
The use of coconut oil for dental care should be viewed extremely critically. There are too few scientific studies on the effectiveness of coconut oil, and the lauric acid it contains causes non-negligible side effects that damage the tooth. Coconut oil is a foodstuff and one should not consider brushing one’s teeth with coconut oil or using the so-called oil extraction – this seems to be a new fashionable trend, but it is not appropriate in dental care.
Turmeric is used in naturopathy for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and pain-reducing effects. However, there is still no scientific evidence for its use in daily dental care. Some users claim to have achieved a whitening effect, but like coconut oil, this cannot be healthy for the tooth.
Baking powder and baking soda consist of coarse-grained salts, the silicates, which are absolutely unsuitable for dental care. By scrubbing the salt with a toothbrush, the silicates have an abrasive effect, which means that hard tooth substance is removed. The tooth gradually becomes thinner and the enamel is lost, which is the protective coating of the tooth.
The effect of baking powder and baking soda can be compared to sandpaper, as enamel is constantly being removed. As a result, the yellow dentin shines through more and more, the teeth become sensitive to external stimuli and can cause severe pain. It is therefore not recommended to use baking powder or baking soda on the teeth.
