Authors contribution:

Bianca Princeton – Contributed to conception, design, data acquisition and interpretation, drafted and critically revised the manuscript.

Dr. Adimulapu Hima Sandeep – Contributed to conception, design, and critically revised the manuscript.

All authors gave final approval and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Conflict of interest:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement:

The authors would like to thank the management of Saveetha dental college,Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai for giving a platform to carry out this project.

Funding Support :

The present study was supported by the following agencies.

• Saveetha Dental College
• SIMATS, Saveetha University
• Star Towers and Parts Trading, DMCC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The authors would like to extend their gratitude to Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and Star Towers and Parts Trading, DMCC in Dubai, UAE for sponsoring this research.

ABSTRACT:

Objective: Oil pulling involves the rinsing of the mouth with oil in order to eliminate bacteria and promote oral hygiene and thereby improve general dental health. It  plays a vital role in the prevention of dental caries or cavities and also in the reduction of inflammations or ulcers and improves gum health. Oil pulling was demonstrated to have side effects like diarrhea, sore jaw or even an upset stomach. The main objective of this study is to create awareness among the general public about the mechanism of oil pulling and its benefits and side effects.

Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional survey based-study setting was done through an online survey, among the general public. There were 100 participants involved in the survey and a questionnaire comprising 15 questions was posted on the online survey platform. The data obtained was plotted in the form of pie charts & bar graphs.

Results: The results of the survey were plotted in the form of pie charts. It was observed that 92% of the participants were aware of oil pulling. 91% of them think that it is indeed effective against dental caries. 50% of the respondents assumed that there are no side effects to oil pulling. Majority of the participants had preferred sesame oil as the oil of choice for oil pulling. 60% of them responded that it eliminates bacterial, environmental as well as chemical toxins.

Conclusion: This study conducted based on the benefits and awareness of oil pulling has concluded that oil pulling is very beneficial in multiple ways to an individual, not only in treating oral diseases, but also in the metabolism of the body.

Keywords: Bacteria, Coconut oil, Dental caries, Diseases, Eco-friendly, Halitosis, Oil pulling