I just read one website that quoted how to do oilpulling, and it said to oilpull first thing in the morning before brushing your teeth. Then all it said to do afterward was rinse your mouth out very well and drink 2 to three glasses of water.
I also read when acid foods are eaten, one should wait 1 hr after eating before brushing their teeth because the acid weakens the enamel.
Do you think this could be why several people have said their teeth have gotten more sensitive after oilpulling, since oil makes it acidic and they need to do the original above protocol of oilpulling without toothbrushing and just rinsing and drinking the water afterward? That would probably allow time to pass after doing all that and then if they choose to brush their teeth they would not be so apt to harm the enamel. Just wondering out loud to all you forum friends.
I had some sensitivity a few weeks ago that I had not had in more than a year of OP and I am not sure what caused it. In some dental-health site, maybe Dr. Nara's, I know the advice is to rinse with water after eating acid foods to stop their effect on the teeth. Molly would know this, more than likely!
I actually stopped using toothpaste of any kind and started brushing with oil, which is what I do post-OP. Then I use soap or a mix of Sea Salt , baking soda (and xylitol, when I remember to order it...) afterwards for brushing. The salt-soda mix seemed to exacerbate the recent sensitivity, so I have been using just the oil (coconut with sesame and a little oil of oregano, for instance) and then the bar soap, which leaves the teeth and mouth very clean even though you might think that oil would make it feel, well, oily!
We had a long discussion on dental health here that was ongoing about this time last year, when it was generally agreed upon that fluoride was to be avoided, but also we learned that glycerine, a ubiquitous ingredient in even non-fluoride toothpastes, prevented the teeth from truly being cleaned (and someone suggested plain old bar soap, which was great for me). Around the same time we talked about the cleaning power of oil, so at one point I just started making a whole thing of oil to keep in the bathroom for face and teeth and ears (using q-tips, looks pretty ridiculous). I started out using a huge bar of Kiss My Face olive oil soap that I had but can't remember what happened to it...so I buy the nice soap at the health-food store for my teeth now, and for soap-washing certain body parts (as Wombat says, the hairy ones!)
To go ahead and let everyone know where I am with all of this research in the bathroom of my life, I also got a big thing of cheap Vitamin C powder at allhealthtrends.com and use a teaspoon of it in every bath I or the girls take (it neutralizes the chlorine, which you can actually smell in our water, ugh). There was a link somewhere here or over at Iodine for some C tablets you can put in, but it is far, far cheaper to buy bulk C (and I hope the effect is the same -- should be!). I haven't quite worked out how to wash my hair with oil, but I will say that I don't wash it more than once every week or so, it never looks or feels dirty, and I have jsut been using the non-SLS Burt's Bees stuff. I get a lot of compliments on my hair and never know what to say when people ask what I do to it... "Don't brush it, wash it once every week or so"? but let's just say it's not real processed.
Anyway, thanks for this post, I am going to try the rinsing with a mouthful of water after eating acid foods. We have redoubled our raw efforts around here and I wonder if that has contributed to the relative lack of sensitivity I have had in the past couple of weeks...? And I definitely worry about my enamel -- I have no recollection of what was done to my teeth by dentists as a child, but I notice some odd discoloration sometimes that makes me think I have some old applied surfaces coming off? Like, on my FRONT teeth??? Another ugh...
"...saliva is necessary to counteract the presence of sugar, in two ways: It
constantly washes the mouth, dumping excess sugar down the hatch; and it contains chemicals
that help reduce both the level of sugar and acid. Interestingly enough, one of the chemicals in
saliva (Sialin) is ingested by the germs along with the sugar and tends to modify the germs' byproduct:
It actually "tells" the germs to stop making acid!"
And...forgot to mention....oil causes increased salvia production. Haven't we all had a lessening of "dry mouth" from doing this?
Acid is produced by...drum roll....sugar? Yes, but not the kind of sugar you think. It's mostly from carbohydrates. They are far worse for your teeth than actual sugar!
As far as the acid content of oils, I posted this recently:
If you desire for major alkalinity, which is what Dr. Nara is all about, then you could rinse with ACV after you finish oil pulling.
I don't know about Flossies view on brushing as the acid is ripping your enamel off. That sounds a bit suspect to me, but I didn't go to dental school. But this is what Dr. Nara says:
"You should know that ingesting any food which the mouth rapidly begins converting to sugar
will almost instantly cause high acid production if there is odontosis in the mouth. More
important, however, is the knowledge that while the increase in acid is enormous and
instantaneous, it takes a long time for the production to taper off.
If you can find or take the time to brush your teeth and/or rinse you mouth after ingesting
concentrated, highly refined sugar, you should."
Anyway, that's my 2 cents on the subject. Sorry Flossie, don't agree.
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Waiting 1/2 hr to brush teeth after oilpulling? 
