The 7 Best Essential Oils for Oral Health: Natural DIY Recipes & Gum Disease Prevention

The Best Essential Oils for Oral Health

The top essential oils for holistic oral health are Clove, Peppermint, and Tea Tree oil. These three oils, along with Frankincense and Cinnamon, are commonly cited in dental research for their combined antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and pain-relieving properties.

• Clove Oil: Provides powerful analgesic (pain-relieving) and antiseptic effects.
• Peppermint Oil: Excellent for halitosis (bad breath) and provides antimicrobial support.
• Tea Tree Oil: Highly effective in reducing gingivitis and fighting a broad range of oral pathogens.

Scientific Evidence: Essential Oils in Modern Dentistry

While we know bacteria cause dental issues, the rising interest in holistic oral health teaches us not to over-sanitize. Harsh, strong antiseptic mouthwashes that kill everything on contact may not be the best option for natural dental health.

Natural products are less concerning than man-made, over-the-counter products. Essential oils give us little reason to worry about the broad elimination of beneficial oral bacteria. As Robert Tisserand noted, “Whether [essential oil] constituents might then negatively affect the bowel flora is pure speculation.” Essential oils maintain balance, making them a more reliable choice for controlling oral pathogens than harsh commercial formulas.

The efficacy of essential oils is demonstrated in scientific reviews, including one in the Journal of International Oral Health entitled “Possible Use of Essential Oils in Dentistry.” Key research points supporting the integration of essential oils in oral health include:

• Supports Oral Hygiene and Gum Health: A solution of essential oils achieved better results in inhibiting the growth of subgingival periopathogens (a cause of gingivitis) than solutions without essential oils. As a bonus, the essential oil solution won’t stain teeth as other options, such as chlorhexidine rinses, have been known to do.
• Relieves Anxiety: Lavender essential oil has been shown to lessen mild anxiety and calm heightened emotional states. Utilizing it in dental waiting areas has been shown to calm nervous patients from dental anxiety and even lessen perceived pain during needle insertions.
• Benefits in Wound Care: Wound dressings that include protective essential oils, clove in particular, were shown to improve healing time and therapeutic effects in one prominent study.
• Antimicrobial Activity: Some essential oils demonstrated the ability to exceed the antimicrobial properties of methylparaben—a substance typically used to preserve various cosmetics.

Because of their strong antimicrobial and antiplaque activity, using a mouthwash with essential oils like clove, thyme, eucalyptus and mint helps prevent dental caries (cavities) as well!

Daily DIYs: Essential Oil Recipes for Your Oral Health Routine

So, how does one use essential oils for oral health and to clean their prosthetic devices of biofilm? Quite simply, really! Here are a few quick tips, which are key parts of Mama Z’s natural oral hygiene routine:

• Make a cleansing solution. Add 25 drops of essential oil to 1/4 cup of 190-proof alcohol and stir. Slowly add in ¾ cup distilled water. Add your oral prosthetic and allow it to soak for 15 minutes to inhibit bacterial growth. Dispose of the solution after use.
• Brush. Using your homemade toothpaste, rub/brush dental implants and allow them to receive the same tender care you’d give your God-given pearly whites! And, of course, the same strategy can be used for people without implants.

Quick Facts: Essential Oil Applications for Holistic Dental Treatment

Here’s a rundown of essential oil facts that will help you apply them in holistic dental treatment preparations:

• When brushing is contraindicated—as can be the case with severe fever, indigestion, asthma, coughing, vomiting, and mouth ulcers—you can achieve a deep clean by oil pulling with essential oils blended in coconut oil, preventing bad breath and gingivitis.
• Hospice patients diagnosed with terminal cancer have been helped with peppermint, lavender, geranium, and tea tree oils blended for oral health care needs.
• Clove essential oil is an antimicrobial standby.

When filling your natural medicine cabinet, you have several essential oils for healthy teeth to choose from. Three of the most effective and commonly used essential oils for oral health are peppermint, orange, and clove oils. Combinations often found in traditional remedies utilize these oils heavily, with others added for synergy and added benefits:

• Lavender to battle canker sores: dilute 3 drops in 1 tablespoon of a carrier oil and apply twice daily to soothe pain and aid in healing.
• Peppermint to temper halitosis: Use peppermint essential oil to make your homemade toothpaste and brush twice a day. Alternatively, you could add 3 drops of peppermint to 1 tablespoon of regular toothpaste and mix thoroughly before applying to your toothbrush.
• Clove and orange to soothe sensitive teeth: add 1 drop of each in 1 tablespoon of carrier oil and apply to affected tooth and gums.
• Eucalyptus, rosemary, and orange to whiten teeth: pick one or more oils from this list and add 3 drops total to 1 tablespoon of regular toothpaste and mix thoroughly before applying to your toothbrush.
• Lavender and eucalyptus to relieve blood blisters – dilute 2 drops of lavender and 1 drop of eucalyptus in 1 tablespoon of carrier oil and apply twice daily.
• Blend your favorite oils to fight plaque, ward off endodontic infections, and make the most of their antimicrobial effects! Dilute 0.5% – 1% essential oil in your carrier oil of choice and swish it around your mouth as a mouthwash or mix in coconut oil for oil pulling.

Safe Application: Essential Oil Dilution & Usage Tips

While there are many ways in which we can apply essential oils to our oral hygiene routines, it is important to keep a few things in mind. To ensure safe practice and usage that will give you the best chance at having a long-term relationship with essential oils without developing sensitivities, consider the following:

• Use What Works Best for You. While we discuss many ways essential oils can be used, this does not mean there is a need for you to implement everything discussed here. Use what is needed in your life for the appropriate amount of time for the natural ingredients to address the concern.
• Short and Sweet. Long-term use of stronger oils, such as clove, could pose potential risks in developing adverse effects such as skin sensitivities. Go for more strength where more strength is required rather than as a daily regimen.
• Acute or Chronic? Using stronger, hard-hitting oils—such as clove—are usually best suited for acute needs. Acute needs are addressed in the short-term (in general over about a week), to help gain control of a situation before moving on to lower-impact maintenance treatment.
• The longer your treatment plan requires, the more gentle your approach to essential oil-based dental practices will be. You’re not going to use maximum dilutions of clove over several months when managing oral infections, for example. Hydrosol oral rinses are a perfect example of an extended-use complement to acute treatment.

No matter what oral needs you are faced with, there are a variety of aromatic options available to assist you in your journey toward healing and health!

The Oral Health Crisis: Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Gum Bacteria

What do diabetes and heart disease have in common with oral health? While both are increasing in prevalence and are top causes of mortality, the connection between them is far deeper than most realize.

These three conditions—oral health, diabetes, and heart disease—are completely intertwined. Studies are now drawing clear lines between them, placing oral health at the crux of this crisis. It is also possible to use essential oils to stop the root causes of diabetes and heart disease.

Gum Disease Epidemic: Facts and Prevention with Essential Oils

It’s a safe bet to assume that most Americans don’t consider oral health problems as one of our major health epidemics. But it is. The most recent data reveals that:

• Half of American adults over the age of 30 have periodontal disease – otherwise known as “gum disease”.
• Nearly all of these cases – 42% of the total adults in our country – have reached moderate to severe levels, risking decay to the point of tooth decay, tooth loss, and even bone loss.
• When we look at older adults, at least 65 years old, the incidence rate jumps to over 70%.

Yet, somehow, the American public remains completely oblivious to the severity of the problem – our health rotting quite literally under our noses without an eyebrow raised. The media, public health officials, and even doctors are strangely silent on the connection between the prevalence of both gum disease and major chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

It’s less a question of what is connected to oral health than what isn’t. It is implicated in many chronic illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis – even low birth weight for premature babies!

The cycle perpetuates itself, with oral health disturbances noted as a cause of chronic, systemic illness and chronic illness causing poor oral health. Even the most insidious diseases are intertwined with this deterioration, such as cancer, HIV, and pneumonia, which may require ventilators.

Simple Prevention: Daily Habits to Stop Gum Disease

While gum disease is chronic, infecting not only the gums but the bones beneath them, and can ultimately cause tooth loss and more severe chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, it is widely preventable and hardly complicated. Simple oral hygiene practices can change the course of periodontal disease substantially.

In addition to the inherent adverse effects of conventional oral health treatments, some other risk factors that can increase the chances of gum disease include:

• Genetic predisposition
• Broken or defective fillings
• Tooth decay
• Poor-fitting bridges
• Dry mouth, especially caused by medication
• Smoking
• Stress
• Pregnancy, contraceptives, and other hormonal changes
• Crooked teeth
• Underlying immune deficiencies
• Diabetes

Daily Habits for Prevention

With the list of risk factors in mind and a focus on whole-body health, oral hygiene can become a primary focus for prevention of gum disease. Simply build the following habits:

• Brush thoroughly, each time you eat
• Floss each day, preferably at night
• Find and visit a holistic dentist for regular checkups
• Make your own oral hygiene products, incorporating essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties

Even the most natural of oral health care products found on the shelves can be loaded with preservatives and additives that add nothing but risk. Protect yourself and your family by making your oral care products a DIY project.

Simple Gum Disease Prevention

With the list of risk factors in mind and a focus on whole-body health, oral hygiene can become a primary focus for prevention of gum disease. It isn’t complicated or costly to take care of your teeth and gums. Simply build the following habits:

• Brush thoroughly, each time you eat
• Floss each day, preferably at night
• Find and visit a holistic dentist for regular checkups
• Make your own oral hygiene products, incorporating essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties

Even the most natural of oral health care products found on the shelves can be loaded with preservatives and additives that add nothing but risk. Protect yourself and your family by making your oral care products a DIY project.

This recipe is for toothpaste, but it makes a great toothpaste too! The color of your finished product may vary depending on the color of your clay and the essential oils used.

Homemade Tooth Powder

Author Mama Z

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Quantity

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup bentonite clay
• 1½ teaspoons organic powdered stevia
• ¼ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt, ground
• 3 tablespoon carrier oil*
• 10 drops essential oils**

Instructions

 

• Mix all the dry ingredients in a food processor.
• In a separate container, add your chosen essential oils to the carrier oil and mix well.
• Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the food processor gradually until well blended. The mixture should be granular and slightly damp.
• Store in a glass jar with a lid.

Notes

*No matter what allergies you may have, there’s a carrier oil that’s right for you. You can use any, or a combination of these: Avocado, Fractionated Coconut, Grapeseed, Jojoba, Sweet Almond. These are our favorite carrier oils. Click here to see more options.

**Essential oils are great for oral health and these are some of our favorite blends:

Lime, lemon, grapefruit

Orange, clove, peppermint

Cinnamon leaf, clove, orange

Chamomile, wintergreen

Frankincense, myrrh

Homemade Mouthwash With Essential Oils

Author Mama Z

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Quantity

2x4x6x

Ingredients

• ¾ cup purified OR distilled water
• ¼ cup 190 proof alcohol OR the highest proof alcohol you can find
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 drops essential oils or a blend of your choice

Instructions

 

• Mix your essential oil into a glass with the 190-proof alcohol, and then mix in baking soda.
• Fill the glass with distilled water.
• Swish in your mouth and rinse.
• Store for up to a month before discarding and making a fresh batch of mouthwash.

Conclusion

The connection between essential oils and dental health is clear: they are a vital, evidence-based tool for supporting the body’s natural balance and preventing systemic disease. By utilizing the pain-relieving power of clove, the antiseptic strength of tea tree, and the refreshing properties of peppermint, and by choosing DIY remedies over harsh conventional options, you and your family can effectively manage oral health and move toward complete wellness.

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