Essential Oils and Oral Hygiene

Good oral care always comes back to brushing your teeth (and flossing too). It’s emphasized from childhood as truly essential to keeping your teeth clean, protected, and healthy. Those looking to take their oral hygiene to the next level can enjoy powerful, natural support with essential oils! Here are our favorite oral care essential oils, products, and DIYs.

Three Ways to Use Essential Oils for Oral Care

1. Essential Oil–Infused Oral Care Products

The first way to promote oral health using essential oils is simple—use products like doTERRA On Guard® Natural Whitening Toothpaste, which blends CPTG Certified Pure Tested Grade^® essential oils with other natural ingredients to help clean and protect the teeth. The toothpaste includes Wild Orange, Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Peppermint, Wintergreen, and Myrrh essential oils. doTERRA On Guard Natural Whitening Toothpaste is fluoride-free, instead using hydroxyapatite to remineralize and restore tooth enamel. Hydrated silica, a natural abrasive, helps remove tooth stains without damaging tooth enamel, and the natural sweetener xylitol improves flavor.

doTERRA On Guard Mouthwash also features Wild Orange, Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary essential oils, as well as miswak extract and xylitol. The alcohol-free formula can benefit the teeth and gums, reduce plaque, and promote a healthy-looking mouth.

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2. Essential Oil Mouth Rinses

Another effective way to incorporate essential oils into an oral routine is to make your own mouth rinse. It’s as simple as adding drops to a few ounces of water, swishing, and spitting! If you practice oil pulling with coconut oil, add a drop or two of essential oil. Check out more suggestions below.

Minty Mouth Rinse

• 4–6 ounces water
• 2 drops Peppermint
• 1 drop Spearmint
• 1 drop Wintergreen

Swish in the mouth for 30–90 seconds and then spit.

 

Cinnamon and Spice Mouth Rinse

• 4–6 ounces water
• 1 drop Cinnamon Bark
• 1 drop Clove

Swish in the mouth for 30–90 seconds and then spit.

Note: Cinnamon and Clove are both hot oils—you only need one drop! If the mixture is still too intense, dilute it with more water or just use Cinnamon Bark.

 

Myrrh Mouth Rinse

• 4–6 ounces water
• 3 drops Myrrh
• 1 drop Clove

Swish in the mouth for 30–90 seconds and then spit.

 

Cleansing Oil Pull

• 1 tablespoon Fractionated Coconut Oil
• 1 drop Peppermint or doTERRA On Guard
• 1 drop Copaiba

Before breakfast, swish in the mouth for 10–20 minutes and then spit in the garbage. Start with five minutes if you haven’t tried oil pulling before and work up to longer times as you get used to the sensation. If you experience soreness or discomfort, slow down, relax your jaw, and swish gently.

3. Essential Oil Breath Sprays

No one likes bad breath. Brushing or using mouthwash is always an option if you’re home, but when you’re out and about it isn’t always so simple. Essential oils offer a clean, convenient way to freshen your breath naturally—from placing a drop of Peppermint under your tongue to making a custom essential oil breath spray.

All you need is a small spray bottle, water, and your favorite oral essential oils.

Peppermint Breath Spray

Materials Needed:

• Small spray bottle
• 5–10 drops Peppermint

Instructions:

1. Add the Peppermint to the bottle (adjusting drops recommendation to preference).
2. Fill the remaining space with water.
3. Shake before each use and spray in the mouth as needed.

Citrus Herbal Mint Breath Spray

Materials Needed:

• Small spray bottle
• 2 drops Peppermint
• 2 drops Spearmint
• 2 drops Lemon
• 1 drop Tulsi (Holy Basil)
• 1 drop Grapefruit

Instructions:

1. Add the essential oils to the bottle.
2. Fill the remaining space with water.
3. Shake before each use and spray in the mouth as needed.

Essential Oils for Oral Care

Incorporating essential oils into your oral care routine can be as simple as putting a drop of Clove on your toothbrush to keep it fresh between the brushes or swishing with a drop of Peppermint after a snack. When combined with regular brushing and flossing, essential oils can powerfully supplement and enhance your oral hygiene.

Some of the following essential oils aren’t approved for internal use, but using them in the mouth—not swallowing—is considered topical use. If you plan to swallow the essential oils you use for oral care, confirm they’re approved for internal use first. Otherwise, feel free to brush, swish, and rinse with any of these essential oils and spit them out when you’re done.

 

• Cinnamon Bark
• Clove
• Copaiba
• Frankincense
• Myrrh
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Tulsi (Holy Basil)
• Wintergreen

As always, use only pure, safe essential oils. Adulteration is extremely common in the industry, so find a brand you can verify performs extensive and repeated testing on every batch of essential oil. doTERRA offers the most tested, most trusted essential oils on the market.

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