Does oil pulling work, or are they pulling our leg?

I asked a dental hygienist if oil pulling works. The theory is that swishing food-grade oil in your mouth and through your teeth effectively cleans your teeth and gums. A hygienist I spoke to said there’s no scientific proof that it does work, but she has patients that swear that their teeth are whiter, cleaner and their gums tighter. I thought I’d give it a try; what the heck.

I put a tablespoon of organic coconut oil on my tongue, closed my mouth, gagged and spit the chucky, greasy stuff out. It’s disgusting. I tried the process again but with a much smaller amount and put the timer on for five minutes. The coconut oil dissolved in seconds and I love coconut oil, but not by itself. It was not only tiring to continually move the oil around, but boring and totally gross, and I could only tolerate it for three minutes. The recommendation is to do this process for 10-15 minutes (ugh!). My mouth was no cleaner, and was greasy. I asked a dentist what he thought about oil pulling. He said it’s a bunch of “baloney.”