Our ancestors have been using essential oils for many uses for centuries now. One of these uses was oral health, and they weren’t wrong either. In this century, their safety and efficiency are finally being proven by clinical studies.
Other than their vital role as healing agents and therapeutic herbs, a number of essential oils have also proven their efficacy when it comes to improving your gums and teeth as well.
Back in 2014, the Journal of International Oral Health had published a study called “Possible Use of Essential Oils in Dentistry”.
In it, they stated that rinsing using essential oils is shown to be just as effective when it comes to preventing the formation of plaque.
In fact, in a study which made a comparison between essential oil and stannous fluoride/ amine fluoride, claimed there was no difference in efficiency.
If anything, essential oils are even better because, other than being just as effective as chlorhexidine, are safer to use since the latter causes stains to form on your teeth if used for a long time.
Essential oils can also boast with their antimicrobial activity when it comes to combating and preventing subgingival periopathogens. The two best essential oils for teeth and gum health are tea tree oil and clove oil.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca)
Human clinical trials have long proved its antiprotozoal, antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties. They also claimed that, among other things, tea tree oil is great for reducing fungal and yeast infections, as well as successfully reducing bacterial load.
You can even use it in the treatment of viral infections, such as cold sores (herpes labialis). And that’s not all, if you can believe it.
This magnificent essential oil can be used to relieve the symptoms of denture stomatitis (mouth inflammation) and of gingivitis too!
Researchers at the Institute of Preventive Dentistry and Oral Microbiology at the University of Basel, Switzerland have also attested to its efficiency in preventing bad breath.
They had done some further research only to evaluate all the benefits of tea tree oil, by reporting that it can even decrease the bacterial colonies which cause halitosis.
So, to sum up, this is the ideal natural guardian of oral health.
Clove Oil
It is the main constituent of clove oil, Eugenol, which really plays the leading part here. So far they have used it in the field of dentistry for its analgesic and anesthetic properties. In fact, Eugenol has exhibited a pharmacological influence on almost all of your body’s systems.
It also possesses quite potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant abilities.
How to Use Them
These two miraculous oils are super-powerful on an individual level, imagine what happens when you combine them! You can do this by applying two drops of each one on carrier oil (a good choice would be coconut oil) twice a day.
Then simply rub them on your teeth or use this mixture instead of toothpaste. The antibacterial properties of each will help prevent gingivitis, cavities, bad breath and tooth decay.
