Clinical Evaluation of Edible Oils Used in Traditional Oil Pulling Therapy for Plaque Control and Tooth...

Introduction: Oil pulling therapy has gained increasing attention as a natural oral hygiene practice; however, evidence regarding its clinical effectiveness remains limited and inconclusive. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of oil pulling therapy on dental plaque regrowth and tooth discoloration compared with chlorhexidine. Materials and Methods: One hundred systemically healthy dental students were randomly allocated to five groups: chlorhexidine, coconut oil, black cumin seed oil, terebinth oil, and distilled water. Following professional prophylaxis, participants refrained from mechanical oral hygiene for four days and used their assigned intervention twice daily. Plaque accumulation was assessed using the Turesky modification of the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index, gingival inflammation using the Gingival Index, and tooth color using CIELAB color difference measurements. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test with appropriate post hoc tests, depending on the distribution of data. Results: Plaque scores differed significantly among groups (p < 0.001), with chlorhexidine showing superior plaque inhibition compared with all oil-based interventions and distilled water. Gingival index values were lowest in the chlorhexidine group, although differences among oil groups were not statistically significant. Tooth discoloration was significantly greater with chlorhexidine than with all oil-based interventions (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Oil pulling therapies demonstrated lower anti-plaque efficacy than chlorhexidine but resulted in less tooth discoloration. These findings suggest that oil pulling may serve as an adjunct rather than an alternative to conventional plaque control.