Oil pulling is one of those practices that sounds strange until you understand what it does. Swishing oil around the mouth for 10–20 minutes seems too simple to make a difference, yet people use it to improve everything from gum health and bad breath to skin, digestion and immune function. This ancient Ayurvedic practice has found new life in modern wellness circles because science is beginning to catch up with what traditional medicine has observed for centuries: the mouth is not separate from the rest of the body.