In the 1990s, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt and I included oil pulling in our mercury amalgam removal protocol. This important natural detoxification process has held up over time, and is also included in my updated protocol, The 5 Dental Detox Days which is available to download.
Dr. Karach suggested that this ancient Ayurvedic practice be done with sesame oil. More recently, Bruce Fife, who wrote the book Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body Through Oral Cleansing has popularized the use of coconut oil for this oral cleansing method.
Although both unrefined, organic sesame oil and coconut oil are both good options, in my testing the organic coconut oil tests superiorly.
Additionally, I have also found that holding any oil in your mouth for “as long as you can,” that is, for 3 to 10 or more minutes, has more negative than positive effects. Similar to the directions for castor oil packs, any process where toxins are absorbed can be a two-way street. That is, after a few minutes, some of the petrochemicals and other toxins that have been absorbed into the oil held in the mouth can begin to be re-absorbed into the oral mucosa. Thus, some of the toxic chemicals are cleared when we spit out the oil and rinse, but others have been re-absorbed into the gums and tissues through holding the oil so long in our mouths.
Oral Cleansing – Karach’s Oil Pulling:
Hold a few tablespoons or just a "mouthful" of organic coconut oil in your mouth for approximately 30 seconds, intermittently swishing it around, "chewing it," and gargling. Then spit it out. Repeat this process 2 more times. Then gargle and rinse with salt and baking soda, and brush your teeth.
You should do this treatment after dental cleanings, removal of amalgam fillings and metal crowns, or the fitting of dental appliances or braces. Do not do it after dental extraction and cavitation surgery—you do not want to disturb the healing gum mucosa at all for a few weeks. You can also utilize this traditional Ayurvedic practice any time you want to detoxify or when you are on a detoxification protocol.
Note that other protocols recommend holding the oil for as long as possible, e.g., for 10 to 20 minutes. However, in my opinion, with this briefer 30 seconds protocol there is less chance of a re-uptake of toxic chemicals back into the mucosa and then into the surrounding tissues and bloodstream.