question on brushing teeth with oil

Hi. Since a few years I brush my teeth with coconut oil (and nothing else). That's OK to me ... except for one thing: coconuts are tropical, they grow in very far away countries. I would like to use something more local.
There are some oil-producing seeds and nuts growing much closer by (in the Netherlands or surrounding countries). The best product I can get is a walnut oil produced by a friend, who picks the nuts and makes the oil herself. But ... I don't know if walnut oil is good for brushing teeth in the way coconut oil is.
Someone here who can give advice?

I think walnut oil could work well.  It's not as saturated as coconut oil, but I don't think that's important if you're using it to brush your teeth.  Generally brushing is effective because it removes any bits of food (that the bacterial colonies could utilize to fuel tooth decay) and it disturbs and partially destroys the bacterial colonies.

Coconut oil has a reputation for being anti-bacterial and I honestly don't know how that works.  Walnut oil doesn't have that reputation, as far as I know, but I don't know much about walnut oil (other than it is delicious, and expensive, and a source of omega threes).

How about flaxseed oil?

This isn't about toothbrushing, but...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10787-010-0047-3

Cynthia Quilici wrote:How about flaxseed oil?

This isn't about toothbrushing, but...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10787-010-0047-3

Also nice, flaxseed even grows in my own garden ... But then the same question.
By the way: I tried the walnut oil, it brushes OK and the taste is very good (even better than coconut oil). I did not yet find out of any unwanted side-effects ...

I know that for ayurvedic oil pulling (basically swishing a bunch of oil around in your mouth for a long time and then spitting) they usually use sunflower or sesame oil so those might be two to look at.

stephen lowe wrote:I know that for ayurvedic oil pulling (basically swishing a bunch of oil around in your mouth for a long time and then spitting) they usually use sunflower or sesame oil so those might be two to look at.

Thank you Stephen. Maybe sunflowers grow in western or middle European countries, but sesame seeds don't. A problem is: the organic oil sold here does not have a country of origin on it. I want to know where it comes from. I am looking for 'as local as possible' products (and 'more than organic').

Hi Inge,

I want to commend you on your drive to source things as locally as possible.

I have tried brushing with coconut oil, and it works pretty well for me. As I understand it, the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of coconut oil are quite unique. Not all oils are created equal. For the sake of your dental health, I would be very careful about how you proceed.

I do get that you are trying to source locally, and for some things that is impossible, as you pointed out. But sourcing is a huge issue. If you live close to a port city, where what you're looking for is coming off a ship that basically came directly from the tropics with a load of bananas and coconut oil, well I would have to look up the figures, but the carbon costs of ocean freight, while they could (and in some cases are) greatly improved by auxiliary wind power in the form of kite-like tethered sails, are much less than the same distance flown or driven. I don't know how they compare to rail freight, but those two are by far the best choices, until they start up with solar electric ocean freight, trains, and probably eventually solar electric thermal heavy-lift airship freight (no infrastructure required, no deafening of marine life by giant engines, and the potential for radio/internet flag stops to individual communities).

My point is, the want to do what you're suggesting is admirable, but the relatively small amount of coconut oil you consume with which to brush your teeth probably doesn't warrant even this much effort. You'd probably find much greater returns in doing this exercise for materials and foods you consume in greater quantities, that don't have the specific requirements of an oil used for keeping your teeth from decay. And should you still want to do as well as possible in sourcing your coconut oil, you can make sure that you are getting it from as close to the ship it came in on as possible, and that would be a great improvement too.

You just don't really want to risk your dental health, is all.

But if, in your research, you do come across an oil that is also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, please do let us know. If I could use, say, juice from my aloe plant, or raw honey (I know, honey is sugar, but it is also proven to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which is why it came to mind briefly), or, I don't know, a paste from wild mustard leaves that I can harvest by the bushel, it doesn't matter, something that grows in the north, I would love to know about it.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

-CK

Thank you very much for your reaction Chris!
Sure, my dental health is important. That's why I started this thread.

It's not only about 'grown /produced locally'. What you say about means of transport is important too. As well as finding a healthy natural product for my teeth.

Everything is integrated in the whole, in living a 'permaculture life'.