Expert Interview: Benefits of Oil Pulling for Greater Oral Health

Healthy Mouth World Summit
Guest: Bruce Fife
Benefits of Oil Pulling

Will: The next expert to share with us here at the Healthy Mouth World Summit is Dr. Bruce Fife. Dr. Fife is an author, speaker, certified nutritionist, and naturopathic physician. He has written over twenty books, including Oil Pulling Therapy, The Coconut Oil Miracle, Eat Fat Look Thin, and The New Arthritis Cure.

He is the publisher and editor of the “Healthy Ways Newsletter,” and serves as the president of the Coconut Research Center, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate the public and medical community about the health and nutritional aspects of coconut and related foods.

Dr. Fife is considered one of the world’s leading experts on dietary fats and oils. He’s a popular speaker, and travels throughout the world lecturing at health fairs, conferences, hospitals and spas. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs worldwide.

Dr. Bruce Fife, welcome to the Healthy Mouth World Summit!

Dr. Fife: Thank you for inviting me to join you!

Will: Absolutely! Thank you for coming and sharing your expertise with us here!

So, before we get rolling, we regularly get asked questions about oil pulling. And we’ve known about and practiced oil pulling ourselves for a couple years now.

We continue to find that so many folks want to understand how to navigate to greater oral health using tools and techniques, in particular, that have stood the test of time. And clearly oil-pulling fits with these old school tools.

So, before we get into the details of what oil pulling really is, from your perspective, why is it important for each of us to address oral health?

Dr. Fife: In my opinion, oral health is the most important aspect of overall health. The health of our mouth reflects the health of our bodies. And so if we have a healthy mouth, we will have a healthy body.

Will: Well put. I one hundred percent agree with you there. So, just so our listeners can grasp the powerful impact that oil pulling has for, not only our oral health, but for our health in general, what types of specifically oral conditions have you heard of being effectively addressed or remedied with oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: Just about any type of oral problem — bleeding gums, abscessed teeth, bad breath, loose gums, gingivitis, codeine on the tongue, plaque, and even in some cases tartar — pretty much every problem associated with the mouth, people have used oil pulling to totally correct or significantly improve.

Will: I want to stretch out here a little bit. What about conditions that are not only oral imbalances? What types of issues have you heard of or seen in your practice from regular oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: This is really amazing because you think oil pulling only affects the mouth. But it affects the entire body. So, conditions even like controlling blood sugar for diabetics, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, allergies, asthma, digestive problems, skin problems, insomnia, low energy, muscle aches, back pain. The list really can go on and on!

Will: That’s amazing! I know that we hear so much. Personally, it doesn’t shock me given that you’re kind of the world resource on this information. You wrote the book on it, literally! It wouldn’t shock me to hear. So, let’s get into the nuts and bolts of this panacea, in a sense, I mean, it really is. So, what is oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: Very basically — and its very, very simple — it’s essentially putting a vegetable oil into your mouth and swishing it around like you would a mouthwash and then spitting it out. I mean, extremely simple, but extremely powerful! In fact, it’s one of the most powerful natural means of detoxing and healing the body that I know of.

Will: Wow! Okay, so simple, really! Swishing oil around the mouth. Give us some specifics that you’ve found as far as the details of the protocol. For people listening here, it sounds crazy, folks. I’m telling you, the stuff is really powerful. Sometimes the most powerful cures are right in front of us and so very simple. So, can you give us the details of how a person would practice oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: Sure. Basically you would take a spoonful of oil. You would stick it in your mouth and you would swish it. And I recommend that you do it for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time. And then you spit it out into the trash. I don’t recommend spitting it in the sink because sometimes oils tend to clog up the sink. And so it’s very simple. Now, some people complain, “Ah! 20 minutes! 15 to 20 minutes! That’s just too long!” But really, it’s not bad.

I do this every single day. And it’s just a part of my normal routine. I put the oil in my mouth. And then I do other things. I can read the paper. I can take a shower. I can prepare breakfast. I can get on the internet. And 15 to 20 minutes goes by very quickly. So, oftentimes, I’ll do it for 30 minutes before I realize I still have the oil in my mouth. So, it’s not really a hard thing.

Will: [Laughs] I’ve been there, doing the “Oh! I’m well past my 20 minute mark here!” We actually have a friend who practices oil pulling on his commute, on his drive. He’s like, “Hey, I don’t like to sing to the radio or my CDs, so I’m just going to practice oil pulling during it.”

Dr. Fife: Yeah! Yeah!
Will: So, what does oil pulling do? How does it affect the body?

Dr. Fife: Basically, what it does is that it pulls out bacteria, viruses, fungus, pus, and mucus out of the mouth, cleansing the mouth, allowing the mouth to heal. The mouth is an incubator of bacteria and other microorganisms. It’s the most germ-filled area, probably, of our bodies. And, so, when you clean that out, you’re removing a lot of stress or potential stress on the body by cleaning out all that garbage.

And when you have all of this bacteria and other microorganisms in your mouth, some of its going to be seeping into the rest of your body. You’re going to have it going into your bloodstream, and it’s going to be circulating throughout your body. So, you have a continual flow of bacteria coming into your body, which your immune system must defend against. And this bacteria can circulate and collect in any part of the body. And in so, it can cause other types of health problems that seem to be totally unrelated to the mouth.

And so oil pulling, it’s kind of like putting motor oil into your car. It cleans out the engine. You let the motor oil out and it comes out black with all this scunge. Well, [it’s] the same way with oil pulling. When you spit it out, it’s pulling out — that’s why it’s called oil pulling — it’s pulling out all this bacteria and pus and other stuff out of your mouth.

Will: Oh, you make that sound so romantic! [Laughs] It’s true, though. You know? It’s powerful. I know, very simply, for people who have anything going on in the head, if it’s sinusitis or nasal congestion. I was speaking to another speaker yesterday about this, another expert that’s presenting in the Healthy Mouth Summit. And we were talking about how we tend to over-compartmentalize. We fall victim to over-compartmentalizing the body and forget that it’s really one body that we’re addressing.

Dr. Fife: You know, that’s exactly right! You know, if people have some type of heart condition, when they go to see the dentist, they’re required to take antibiotics because as the dentist is working in the mouth, this bacteria gets into the bloodstream. And one of the main organs that’s affected is the heart. And so people can actually develop heart failure from an infection that is derived directly from the mouth.

Will: Yeah. Very, very true. So, how did you learn about oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: Well, you know, I heard stories about oil pulling. And I heard testimonies. And I heard strange testimonies like how it helped people with arthritis or it helped with allergies. And I looked at it a little bit at it, and I said, “What?! Putting oil in your mouth can help with allergies? It can help with insomnia and arthritis? No! That’s too ridiculous!” And so I pushed it aside, saying, “This is one of those phony cures.”

But, I kept hearing more testimonies and more testimonies. And it got to the point where I thought, “Well, gee. Maybe there is something going on here. I’m going to have to research this thoroughly and find out if there’s any validity to this oil pulling stuff.” So, that’s what I did.

I researched everything that I could find on oil pulling. And it’s really interesting because as I got into it, I actually discovered the science behind it. And there is science behind oil pulling. And so it made a lot of sense to me. And I came across more people with fantastic testimonies. And it all made sense.

Now, one thing I did discover is if you go on the internet and you look for information on oil pulling, you will find a lot of false information, a lot of myths. And so that’s one of the things that kind of discouraged me at first because as I was learning about it, I read these descriptions on how it worked, which were totally inaccurate and totally wrong. And so it discouraged me. But once I found out the science behind it, it made total sense.

One of the people who did a lot of the science that was related to oil pulling was Weston A. Price. I’m sure you’re familiar with him?

Will: Absolutely, yes.

Dr. Fife: Dr. Price, who was a dentist who lived back in the 20s and 30s, he actually wrote a very extensive book of research on how the mouth affects the entire body. Weston A. Price, back in those days, was the director of the research section of American Dental Association. He was a brilliant man. And he did a lot of research on how the mouth affects the body. And I read his research.

He has a two-volume set that was published back in the 1920s that went very extensively into this. One of the stories he tells is about this lady who had severe crippling arthritis. She needed a wheelchair to get around. And she was one of his patients. And at this time, he was suspecting that root canals were not very good. And he had given her a root canal a few years earlier. And so he called her in because he wanted to check on this root canal.

And so she came in and during the visit he decided to actually pull those teeth. And so he pulled the teeth and within weeks, this lady who was crippled with arthritis, was basically cured. Her arthritis went away. Now, that’s not the end of the story. He took these teeth and he washed them. And he cleaned them up. And then he inserted them under the skin of rabbits. And these rabbits, within a few days, developed the same crippling arthritis that the lady had.

And he would take these teeth, he’d put it under the skin of several rabbits. And they all developed the same type of arthritis. And he did many, many similar studies with other patients, if they had other health problems. If they had heart problems, he would put the tooth under the skin of a rabbit and the rabbit would develop heart problems. So, whatever problem the patient would have, the rabbits would develop similar health problems. And so his research was very remarkable, illustrating how the mouth [and] the teeth can affect anything throughout our body.

Will: Excellent recap of that study. I love that part of Weston Price’s research and reading about it. The intradermal testing is just insane. That’s crazy.

So, let’s go further into this. It’s kind of really right on point. I know I’ve read about this in your book and in other places. It’s called focal infection theory. Will you go further into detail about this?

Dr. Fife: Well, yeah. The focal infection theory was developed years ago. Old time dentists and doctors recognized that if there was an infection in the mouth, that it infected the entire body. And like you were mentioning earlier, we often tend to think of the body as being compartmentalized, and that the mouth is separate from the rest of the body or something else is separate. But we’re not. We’re an entire system. And so what goes on in the mouth goes on in the body.

And these doctors recognized that if there was a problem in the mouth, there was going to be problems in the rest of the body. In fact, ranchers and farmers, when they would buy animals, they would always look at the teeth to make sure that the teeth and gums were healthy. They weren’t going to buy an animal, spend a lot of money, if the gums were bad because they knew that it would be an unhealthy animal.

So, basically, the focal infection theory says if you have an infection in your mouth, that is the starting point of infection that can spread throughout the body.

And if you address that infection, if you remove that infection, then you can improve the health of the rest of the body.

Will: Yeah. Amazing. And really, my grasp of the information from focal infection theory is that one doesn’t necessarily precede the other. It can go both ways. Would you agree with that? In other words, it could be a tooth issue that then affects the organ or the related part of the body, or the other way around. It could be something going in the system that shows itself in the mouth.

Dr. Fife: Sure, you can be infected in other ways and it isn’t, of course, connected to the mouth. So the mouth can also be affected. Sure.

Will: Yeah. Well, so let’s give the listeners a little bit of perspective here. Where does the concept and protocol of oil pulling come from? How long has it been around?

Dr. Fife: Basically, it came from Ayurvedic medicine. And it was called oil gargling. Oil pulling, I think, is just slightly different from that. But it stems from that. And so it’s been around for thousands of years, really.

Will: Yeah, Ayurvedic being an ancient Indian medical tradition. Perfect. From your perspective, are there any side effects to oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: Well, there are no harmful effects. I mean, all you’re doing is putting oil in your mouth. I mean, you put oil in your mouth when you eat stuff every day! How can putting oil in your mouth actually be harmful in any way? Well, it’s not.

However, oil pulling is a potent detoxifier. It pulls out bacteria. It boosts the immune system. It actually stimulates mucus flow and healing. And as a consequence, you may experience what’s called a healing crisis. And this is when the body goes into a state of intense cleansing. And during this cleansing crisis, you can experience any number of symptoms associated with the purging.

So, you can experience maybe nausea, vomiting, sinus congestion, skin rashes, diarrhea, upset stomach, headaches. The list of symptoms that are possible are endless, associated with a healing crisis. In fact, this is one of the things that convinced me that oil pulling was actually a legitimate cleansing healing modality because so many people experience the healing crisis. And I’m very familiar with the healing crisis. And so I know what’s happening. And when people start off, the healing crisis or its cleansing symptoms can happen even when you do it for the first time. So just be aware of that.

Will: [Laughs] Definitely. In particular, just getting used to swishing the oil around the mouth. We hear it from our readers and listeners in our network quite often when they practice oil pulling first is a sensation of nausea like, “Oh, man. I can’t do this!”

Dr. Fife: Another very common first sensation would be the sinuses clogging, the flow of mucus from the sinuses. That’s the first thing that I noticed when I did it. The very first day, my sinuses started running and flowing more than normal. And even after I stopped oil pulling, I still had congestion in my sinuses for a couple days afterwards. In fact, I even developed laryngitis, and I couldn’t even speak. And this was really just a few days of doing oil pulling.

But after a few days, you know, everything kind of cleared up. And I was better than before. And that’s what happens. After a healing crisis, your health improves. It’s kicked up a notch because you’ve gotten rid of a lot of junk in the body that’s destroying your health.

Will: Yeah, you’ve cleared out a bunch of toxins. Is that what you generally find? I mean, I don’t want to scare listeners away from the idea of trying oil pulling. What do you generally see as far as a healing crisis? A couple days? Is that accurate?

Dr. Fife: Yes. Generally, a healing crisis will last a couple of days. And generally, it’s fairly mild like the congestion that I mentioned. But sometimes, it’ll be a little skin rash or a bit of a headache or things like that. And, again, it’s only going to last two, three days. Sometimes it’ll only last one day.

In some cases, people’s teeth may actually feel very tender. Their teeth may even ache. But that will last for like one day, and then it’s gone. And that is because of the bacteria being pulled out of the gums.

Will: Right, right. That makes a lot of sense.

Dr. Fife: Now, occasionally, a crisis will last maybe a week, two weeks or even three weeks. But that’s more unusual. It can happen. So, people can be aware of it.

Will: Right. So, in other words, if a person is going to try oil pulling, commit to yourself to do it for a couple of weeks to see how you feel. You know? Don’t try it for two days and realize, “Oh, this is making me sick.”

Dr. Fife: Right, and that’s what happens. People will start feeling sick and they say, “Oh, this makes me sick. I’m not going to do it again.” And they don’t get the benefit.

Will: So what type of oil should we use when we oil pull?

Dr. Fife: Well, traditionally, since this process came from India, it was recommend to use sesame or safflower oil. But I have found that coconut oil is superior. Coconut oil has a very nice taste. It also has antimicrobial properties, natural antimicrobial properties. It also has healing properties on skin and mucous membranes that no other oil has. And so coconut oil is really the ideal and superior oil to use for oil pulling.

Will: And speaking personally here, I don’t care for the flavor of sesame oil. Obviously olive oil would be much too potent of a flavor. On the flip side, coconut oil takes me back to being on the beach as a kid and smelling sun tan lotion. It’s just a very wonderful flavor to have.

Dr. Fife: Yeah, and you know what? A lot of people have a hard time of putting oil into their mouth because we’ve been told so much how oils are bad. So people have kind of taken oils out of their diet. And to purposefully put a whole spoonful of oil into their mouth, they’re kind of scared.

But there’s nothing to be afraid of. And if you put a nice oil like coconut oil into your mouth, even though you may hesitate and it may take a few days or weeks to kind of get used to the feeling, you do get used to it. I mean, I can put oil in my mouth. I drink oil by the spoonful. And there’s no problem with it.

Will: Right, which totally leads us into other fields of your expertise around the healing benefits of oil such as coconut oil, too. But I think we’ll have to save that. Maybe I’ll ask you a question or two at the end there just so you can kind of expound on that.

Dr. Fife: Okay.

Will: So, we’ve covered this a little bit. I’d like to get into a little more detail here with you. What are some of the conditions that oil pulling can help with perhaps even specific stories that you have experienced from your patients or anything that comes to mind there?

Dr. Fife: Well, as I mentioned earlier, pretty much any type of oral problem with gum disease and tightening up the gums, plaque, whitening the teeth, all these are commonly reported, and whole body health. Again, we’ve mentioned everything from diabetes to bronchitis. Surprisingly, even pregnancy outcome. Pregnancy can be affected by oil pulling.

Studies have shown that women who have gum infections actually are more likely to give birth to low birthweight babies. This has been directly associated with bacteria in the gum because the bacteria in the gum gets into the bloodstream. It crosses the placenta and actually affects the infant.

A story. Okay, Barbara. She has a great story! She used to work as a firefighter. She was very active. She used to run. She used to do mountain climbing. I have a picture of her scaling a vertical wall of rock. So she was very athletic, very fit. But she started to develop arthritis and muscle pain, as well. It affected her spine. It affected her knees. It affected her feet so that she could not walk normally. She had what was called foot drop where she could not walk on her heels and toes, so she kind of had to walk flatfooted.

She suffered with this pain for a good ten years. She had gone through four spinal surgeries. And she was scheduled for a fifth spinal surgery where they were going to fuse her vertebrae together.

And then she learned about oil pulling. And so she started doing oil pulling. And within about a month, her health dramatically improved. She was able to walk again normally, from heel to toe, a normal walk. And she was able to go up stairs again without the pain that she normally experienced.

She improved so much that she was able to cancel her surgery for her spine. She did not need that anymore. And she went back to mountain climbing. The picture I have of her climbing up the mountain is her at age 60 after doing the oil pulling and improving her health. So amazing what oil pulling can do!

Another person who was 79 years old had eczema. And he had it on his hands and foot, had low back pain. And he started oil pulling. Now, it took him a little bit longer. But he said that after 8 months, the eczema was totally gone from his hands, his back pain was totally gone, and the eczema on his foot was clearing up very nicely.

These are typical stories that you read. You can go on the internet and there’s a lot of them you can find.

Will: It’s true, though. I mean, it makes sense. If our immune system is, day in and day out, onslaughted, just attacked, and the immune system has to deal with a bacterial load in the mouth that is an impressive bacterial load, then the immune system can’t go out and take care of other jobs.

Dr. Fife: Exactly.

Will: So, if we relieve the immune system from having to address what we consider to be an enemy inside the gates, really — with regards to gum disease — then it can go out and clear up other issues, as well as you’ve really stopped the causal influence by addressing the overproliferation of bacteria in the mouth that then migrate into the rest of the body.

Dr. Fife: Exactly!

Will: Yeah, yeah. You mentioned the science earlier. What do you have as far as data on the studies on oil pulling?

Dr. Fife: You know, first of all, there have been hundreds of studies that have linked the health of the mouth to the health of our body. For example, when I was talking about pregnancy outcome, there are numerous studies showing that bacteria in the mouth can affect the growth of an unborn baby. Other studies showing that oral health affects blood sugar control, so diabetics and other parts. There are literally hundreds of these studies. So, this is a very well-documented fact. So, it’s logical to assume that if you improve your oral health, you will improve your whole body health because that’s what these studies are basically saying.

Now, the question is, “Does oil pulling really improve our oral health?” Because if it does, then we’ll have this same effect. And there are thousands of testimonials of people who have used oil pulling, like the examples that I gave. But there are also a number of actual studies of oil pulling specifically. For example, there was one published in the Journal of Oral Health and Community Dentistry. And this was a blind study, so neither the participants or the people doing the study knew what who was getting.

And these participants were young college students who had mild to moderate gum disease and plaque accumulation. And [it was] pretty much typical of that age group. They oil pulled once a day for 45 days for this study. And the results was that oil pulling was just as good and actually even a little bit better than brushing and using antiseptic mouthwash in reducing plaque. But, it was two to seven times better than brushing or using mouthwash in reducing gum disease. So, basically, oil pulling is superior to both brushing and using antiseptic mouthwash in cleaning up the mouth.

Now, I don’t recommend that you abandon these other things like brushing. I recommend that you add oil pulling into your normal oral health routine.

Will: Yeah, I’ve looked at a lot of the studies there, as well. And it’s staggering to see just the results. And for me, personally, the empirical nature of it, I find benefit. The testimonials that I read, there are so many wide-ranging benefits that people experience. For me that’s enough. Some people, the real hard core scientist people out there need to see that double blind. And so they exist, surely, for oil pulling.

Dr. Fife: Yes, so we do have those studies. And we do have the studies that prove that oral health affects whole body health. And then we have some really incredible testimonies. I mean, some of these people have been suffering with these health problems for 30 or 40 years. And yet, with using oil pulling, within a few weeks, in many cases, these long chronic health problems are gone. I mean, there’s something there!

Will: And you just brought something up that is staggering for me. If you think about it, my background and our background is in the Chinese longevity arts. And in traditional Chinese medicine, they’ll talk about as long as it is taking you to develop an imbalance — let’s say 10 years — it might take you that long to restore balance. But what you’re saying is that this is kind of a short cut, if you will. This is a relatively quick fix that is so simple!

Dr. Fife: Yes! Yes!

Will: So, from your perspective, when is the best time to oil pull? And how often should we do it?

Dr. Fife: I recommend that people do it at least once a day. And I prefer in the morning. In the morning is a nice time. You’re brushing your teeth. You’re doing things like that. It’s an easy thing to add into your day. When I do it, the first thing in the morning, I get up, I go in, and take a spoonful of oil and put it into my mouth. So, it’s one of the very first things before I eat breakfast, before I do anything else, a spoonful of oil goes in my mouth.

And how much oil do you use? That depends really on you. I don’t recommend you use too much. I think a tablespoon is probably too much for most people unless you have a huge mouth because if you put too much oil in your mouth, there’s not going to be room for your saliva. Because as you’re doing the swishing, you’re going to be secreting saliva. And so your mouth is going to gradually fill up. So, usually, somewhere around two teaspoons is a fair amount of oil to use.

And then, to do it for 15 to 20 minutes, again, I mention that if you get involved in something else, this 15 or 20 minutes really goes by quick. So it’s not bad. If you have some serious oral or other health problems, then I recommend that you do it three times a day.

Will: Wow. Okay. That actually leads me to my next question really well. So, a lot of people have oral health issues. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize it. But the majority of the population does. What about a person who has an active dental infection or root canals or mercury amalgams? What do you suggest? What should they do about this?

Dr. Fife: Well, you mention an important thing that most people do have dental issues that they’re totally unaware of. Over ninety percent of the population has some degree of gum disease or cavities in their mouth. One-third of the population over 65 years of age have no teeth whatsoever left in their mouth. They have been removed from decay and what not. That’s really poor, which indicates that most people have some problem in their mouth. And many people are totally unaware that they have a problem. These studies come from respected researchers. Over ninety percent of us have problems have some type of oral health problem — decay or gum disease.

If you do have an infection that you’re aware of… For example, I would recommend that you oil pull at least three times a day. And good times to do that would be before breakfast, before lunch, and before dinner. And I recommend that because most people eat breakfast, lunch, and dinners. So they’re not going to forget that.

So, if you don’t have a set time to do it, you’re likely to forget your oil pull, and you’ll end up doing it maybe once a day. So, if you always do it before eating, that’s a good reminder.

And if you do have an infection and you really want to address this, I also recommend that you may add a couple of drops of clove oil or oregano oil into the coconut oil because these oils have strong antibacterial effects that will support the cleansing action of the coconut oil. And it’ll help clear up the infection sooner.

With root canals… Root canals are dead teeth. They’re dead tissues in the body. And they are always infected. The dentist can go in there and he can drill out your tooth. He can disinfect it with chemicals. And it may be totally free of bacteria when he finishes it.

But what is that tooth in? It’s in your mouth, which is a pool of bacteria! The bacteria go back into that tooth. Our teeth are filled with tiny tubes called tubules. And bacteria get inside the teeth. And they go in there and they stay there. And so, once you have a root canal, you always have an infected tooth in your mouth. And that infection is always seeping into your bloodstream.

And, so, since these root canals always harbor bacteria, the best solution is to pull them. Now, these teeth do have a function. And if your immune system is strong, it can handle a lot of infection. However, as we get older, our immune system isn’t quite as functional as it was when we were younger. And so a root canal will become more of a problem as we age. So, in my opinion, I believe it’s best to eventually remove all the root canals from your mouth.

With mercury fillings, oil pulling doesn’t directly affect the mercury in the mouth. And so what I recommend is you get the mercury removed by a dentist who knows how to do this and replace it with a composite filling that’s more compatible with your mouth.

Will: Right on. So, my next question here is really probably the number one question that we get from our network of people asking us questions about oil pulling. Will oil pulling loosen fillings or caps or otherwise damage any type of restorations in our mouth?

Dr. Fife: That is an important question because I get that a lot, too. People have noticed that when they start doing oil pulling, sometimes their fillings will come loose, or caps will come loose. Well, let me tell you that oil pulling will not loosen a properly placed filling or cap. If a filling comes loose, the reason for that is not because of the oil pulling. It’s because the teeth under the filling have become rotten. There was an infection underneath the tooth. And the oil pulling, more or less, brought your attention to it by cleaning out that rot, which loosens the filling.

If you oil pull and you actually have a filling come loose, you should jump for joy because you’ve found a hidden problem that was continually causing harm to your health. You had this rot underneath there that was getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and causing a lot of infection seeping into your body. So, oil pulling brought your attention to it. Oil pulling didn’t cause it. It brought your attention to it. So, you need to have that tooth repaired and fixed. So, actually, that’s a good thing.

Will: Yeah, actually really well put. To reframe it, I’ve actually never heard of anyone loosening a filling from oil pulling. And I totally agree with you that if a filling comes loose while you’re oil pulling, it’s not because of the oil pulling. It’s actually a blessing because it was a loose filling anyways that probably has decay under it that needs to be addressed.

Dr. Fife: Yes.

Will: Yeah, yeah. So, obviously, your work is really all about solutions, which really parallels what we are doing. Should one hundred of the population practice oil pulling? Would they benefit from it?

Dr. Fife: Yes, everybody! Even people who don’t think they have any health problems or oral health problems can benefit because it’s cleaning your mouth. It’s like saying to someone who doesn’t have any oral health problems, “Do you need to brush your teeth every day?” Of course you do because if you didn’t, the consequences would be poor oral health.

Oil pulling is another way to improve oral health. And as we’ve seen from studies, it’s even better than brushing your teeth or using antiseptic mouthwash. So, it’s something that’s very easy to do. You might as well add it into your normal oral hygiene routine.

Will: Yeah, there’s really nothing to lose and everything to gain from our perspective with it.

So, one more quick question here. How long, in general, does it take before someone may notice positive changes in their situation? I know that’s a real broad question based on what a person’s got going on. But from your perspective, what are we looking at as far as if a person really wanted to, in earnest, apply oil pulling in their life and see if it was going to positively impact their health, how long should they give themselves to really give it a fair shot?

Dr. Fife: For oral conditions sometimes even just a day or two, they could start seeing changes. But, you can see them in a week or two weeks. Some people that have abscesses in their mouth, serious problems, within a couple of weeks of oil pulling, that can be totally cleared up. And so some severe oral problems can be cleared up fairly easy.

Now, for other problems throughout the body, it’s probably going to take a little bit longer because you have to clean the mouth first and then the body has to do internal cleansing to cleanse up the damage and the bacteria that’s throughout the system. But, again, you can see improvements within a week or two. But in some cases, it’s going to take a month or two or eight months or even a year, depending on the person, depending on the condition, and depending on other habits the person has. So, if someone eats a good healthy diet, they’re going to see improvement a lot sooner than someone who smokes and eats a lot of junk food.

Will: Yeah, well put. Well put. And bringing up the person who smokes… We get questions about, “How do I naturally whiten my teeth without putting chemicals on my teeth and damaging my tooth enamel?” And our go-to answer is, “Oil pull! Simple!”

Dr. Fife: Yes, exactly.

Will: So, do you have any closing comments or suggestions to offer our listeners at this point?

Dr. Fife: I’d like to reiterate that oil pulling is so simple. It is so cheap. There really isn’t a reason not to do it. And it offers the potential to provide so many health benefits, both orally and systemically. You should try it. Give it a try. At least a couple of weeks. If you’re in good health, you probably won’t see a whole lot of change, but it’s still doing you benefit. If you have health problems, you’ll probably see something within a couple of weeks.

Will: That’s true. Even if you’re running a really healthy system, you might find that, oh, that achy elbow…I haven’t felt that for a few weeks now, or something real simple.

Dr. Fife: Yes!
Will: So, Dr. Bruce Fife, how can folks learn more about you and your work?

Dr. Fife: Well, one thing is my book called Oil Pulling Therapy. And that’s available on Amazon.com or they can go to my website and get it that way.

Will: And what is your site, sir?

Dr. Fife: I actually have two websites. One of them is for educational purposes and one of them is for selling the books. The one for educational purposes is www.CoconutResearchCenter.org. And that is a site that’s set up just for education so you could learn about the benefits of coconut oil, coconut products. It also includes information about oil pulling. And then my other website that sells the books is www.PiccadillyBooks.com.

Will: Perfect. Dr. Bruce Fife, thank you for throwing down so many gems here for our listeners! I really appreciate your time, sir!

Dr. Fife: Oh, I appreciate you inviting me to come on and share this knowledge with you!

Will: Absolutely! Thank you!