Fact or Myth: Does Coconut Oil Make Good Toothpaste?

This is a FACT…

Coconut oil toothpaste has several advantages over commercial toothpastes that contain several hazardous chemicals.  Not to mention, coconut oil toothpaste also helps prevent tooth decay and fight cavities. Let’s see how it stacks up against commercial brands.

brushing teethSafety First

Commercial toothpastes like Colgate Total contain a chemical called triclosan. Triclosan has been implicated with promoting antibiotic resistance and interfering with proper endocrine function. Endocrine disruption causes serious health complications, including ovarian, prostate, breast and testicular cancer, low birth weight babies, precocious puberty in girls, and undescended testicles in boys. Fluoride another toxic chemical—a toxic industrial waste product in fact—is also used in commercial toothpaste brands.

Commercial toothpastes are notorious for using foaming agents like sodium laurel sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES). Sure, your toothpaste will be nice and sudsy, but these chemicals break up the phospholipids on your tongue and disrupt the proper functioning of your taste buds. They’ve also been linked to canker sores. Natural coconut oil, on the other hand, promotes the balance of lipids on your tongue.

Protection Always

Researchers at the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland tested coconut oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil in their natural states and after being treated with enzymes to measure their effectiveness against strains of Streptococcus bacteria, a common mouth bacterium that causes tooth decay. The enzyme-modified coconut oil showed significant influence on suppressing Streptococcus mutans, the bacteria strain most implicated in tooth decay. Researchers believe that the enzymes break down the coconut oil and change it into acids that are toxic to these bacteria.

Chief researcher Dr. Damien Brady said:

“Incorporating enzyme-modified coconut oil into dental hygiene products would be an attractive alternative to chemical additives, particularly as it works at relatively low concentrations. Also, with increasing antibiotic resistance, it is important that we turn our attention to new ways to combat microbial infection.”

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology revealed that massaging your gums with coconut oil for 10 minutes every day for three weeks significantly reduces the Streptococcus mutans strain of bacteria, as well as plaque.

Coconut Oil-based Toothpaste

Fortify your coconut toothpaste with these other natural ingredients:

  • Baking soda
  • Peppermint oil (which has been shown to block the formation of biofilm formations that cause cavities)
  • Himalayan pink salt
  • Bentonite clay (which contributes to a paste-like texture and helps draw out toxins from the mouth and gums)

Remember, you can also benefit from coconut oil pulling.