Can coconut oil relieve mouth ulcers?

Focus on the “oil pulling” method for managing mouth ulcers.

“Oil pulling”, or an oil mouth rinse, is a practice derived from traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda), which has recently come back into fashion. It involves circulating a tablespoon o foil, most often a vegetable oil, around the mouth for several minutes on an empty stomach, before spitting it out. During this process, the oil gradually becomes emulsified, which increases its contact surface with the oral tissues. This practice is often presented as a natural method for cleaning the oral cavity, in particular by limiting the formation of dental plaque and reducing the microbial load.

Oil pulling is also credited with the ability to reduce mouth ulcers.

Canker sores are small painful lesions, more precisely ulcers, that develop on the mucous membranes of the mouth or at the base of the gums. Unlike cold sores, they are neither viral in origin nor contagious. Their occurrence is multifactorial: stress, hormonal fluctuations, microtrauma (biting, dental appliances), infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori or nutritional deficiencies (iron, folates, vitamin B12) can all promote their development. Although they heal spontaneously within one to two weeks, canker sores can be troublesome in everyday life, hence the interest in eliminating them quickly.

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Can coconut oil help against mouth ulcers?

To date, the scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of coconut oil on mouth ulcers remains limited.

Nevertheless, certain biological mechanisms make it possible to formulate hypotheses. Coconut oil notably contains lauric acid, a fatty acid known for its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. This compound can disrupt the membranes of certain micro-organisms and limit their proliferation. Although mouth ulcers are not always of infectious origin, the presence of bacteria in the oral cavity can sustain inflammation or delay healing, hence the interest in reducing the local microbial load.

With this in mind, several studies have evaluated the antibacterial effect of coconut oil in the oral cavity. For example, a clinical trial conducted in 50 children compared a coconut oil mouthwash with chlorhexidine, a reference antiseptic. After 30 days of daily use, the results showed a significant reduction in Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium involved in dental caries, in both groups, with no significant difference between them. In other words, coconut oil demonstrated efficacy comparable to chlorhexidine in reducing this bacterium. However, these results should be interpreted with caution: S. mutans is involved in dental caries, and not in mouth ulcers, which have a different pathophysiology.

Nevertheless, some studies have focused more directly on mouth ulcers. A clinical study carried out in 52 patients with recurrent ulcers compared the application of coconut oil with that of 5% amlexanox, a standard treatment for mouth ulcers. The results show a significant improvement in both groups, with a reduction in pain and in ulcer size over the days. Coconut oil in particular showed a significant reduction in pain from the third day, as well as a reduction in lesion size by the fifth day. These findings suggest a potential beneficial effect of coconut oil, although the study remains small in scale and does not provide details on the differences observed between the two groups.

In conclusion, although the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of coconut oil may make it a potentially interesting mouthwash for managing mouth ulcers, the current evidence remains insufficient. It may serve as a useful adjunct to conventional treatments, but should not replace them.

Note : As coconut oil is also an edible oil, there is no contraindication to using it for oil pulling.