For gorgeous pearly whites, I’d try just about anything. But is the resurrected trend of oil pulling—the act of swishing oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes—too extreme to be worth the benefits? I sought the help of some dentists on its “validity” and tried it for myself. Find out if my whitening strips made it to the trash.
What is oil pulling?
An ancient dental technique, it involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth for approximately 20 minutes while on an empty stomach. The vegetable-based oil works to clean and detoxify teeth and gums. “It has the added effect of whitening teeth naturally and evidence even shows that it is beneficial in improving gums and removing harmful bacteria,” say New York’s Premier Dentists at Lowenberg, Lituchy & Kantor.