IAIT researchers show coconut oil could combat tooth decay:
http://www.ait.ie/ab...e-16107-en.html
I thin the mystery 'enzymes' mentioned is plan old saliva as I seem to recall reading that saliva changes Lauric Acid into Monolaurin?
I agree with you: it is about having good saliva, a substance designed to look after our oral health.
I am sure that quality oils are good for the teeth--in fact, I have had good results stopping toothaches with a combination of crunching a CoQ10 capsule and a cod liver oil capsule around the affected area and taking an aspirin. However, the idea of routinely swilling oil round my mouth for twenty minutes grosses me out, and I doubt any evidence could persuade me to do it.
And anyway, I do not see why it would be necessary. Saliva normally contains all the right buffering and antibacterial elements to provide good oral hygiene. If one's diet is good, the only help it needs is some cleaning to remove lodged or adhering particles of food (that might prevent saliva from reaching all surfaces).
The trouble comes if one's diet is bad--in other words, if it contains a lot of sucrose--or if one does not clean one's teeth for too long. In that case, the quality of saliva is compromised by the presence of oral acidity. In my opinion, if one has an acid oral environment, a neutralising mouthwash every so often (such as dilute sodium bicarbonate) should do the trick just as well as a gobful of oil--and much less repulsively.
Edited by Gerrans, 19 February 2014 - 03:41 PM.