Oregano Oil Vs Tooth Decay 2024 UPDATE | Essential Oils and Oral Health

We’d all like to take better care of our teeth and many of us will use mouth washes or the like to kill oral bacteria which are responsible for tooth decay and gum inflammation. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were an effective AND NATURAL alternative to heavy chemical mouthwashes! Well, of course there is… Oregano oil or oregarno oil as I say (I’m gonna say oregarno from here in, I can’t help it, can’t be changed…). And, specifically constituent components of oregano oil, including carvacrol, appear to be exactly that. Carvacrol and other elements of essential oils have clearly displayed antimicrobial activity against 25 different phytopathogenic bacteria and strains including Streptococcus Mutans, the main bacteria understood to cause tooth decay. So, in this video I’ll quickly mention some of the research literature showing how effective the oil is, how to use the oil in our oral hygiene routine, the one POSSIBLE drawback of oregano oil and also the reason we definitely should NOT be using mouthwash. Check the chapter indicators at bottom of video if you want to jump ahead.

[1] So let’s get on with it. This study published last year investigated several ways in which the oregano oil component interferes with the bacteria’s growth and also inhibited its cariogenic virulence, or in other words, its ability to cause tooth decay. They concluded that the combined effects of the various components in oregano oil may be able to greatly reduce microbial resistance.

[2] This study from a couple of years ago published in the international journal of dentistry and oral science, shows very similar results and included images like this one of the effect the oregano oil had on the decay causing bacteria. Initially, this petri dish would have been completely covered with cavity causing streptococcus mutans shown as the white culture at the bottom right of the dish but here, after application of the oregano oil, the dish has been almost completely cleared of the bacteria.