i posted here a while back about the hygenist not getting all the tartar off my teeth when he cleaned them. I went back and made him clean them again and this time he did a pretty good job.
Anyway my question is in the past year and a half i have gone from having healthy gums,all pockets were 1-3, to having gingivitis and i think my gums may be starting to recede.
Is there anything i can do here at home to get my gums healthy again? I brush and floss at least once a day. If i remember i brush around lunchtime. I use listerine every night after brushing and flossing. Is this enough to get the results i want?
When i was in the states i went in every three months for a cleaning and that really helped to get and keep my gums healthy. That is not an option where i am now. So i look to all of you for advice.

Rinse regularly with warm salt water, and it you can get a prescription (not sure where you are at) for Perio-med, that will help your condition. Perio-med is generally given to patients who have inflammation or periodontal disease. If you can't have regular dental care, tooth picks are handy tools. Gently run them along the gumline and they too will help not only stimulate the gum tissue, but take anything off your tooth that isn't supposed to be there. In addition to paying close attention to your gums, make sure your toothbrush is "soft". The bristle on the hard brush, or brushing to hard, will cause gum recession. As we age our gums naturally recede, but if you have noticed this in a short amount of time, changing your brushing habits/toothbrush may help. The bristles remove plaque from our teeth, not by how hard we press, but by the sweeping motions made.

[This message has been edited by Brazos (edited 02-13-2003).]

Use Sonicare toothbrush. It is awesome.

How about a Water Pik, a gum massager, and lots and lots of hydrogen peroxide? Also, making sure you bruah your teeth good enough and long enough may help. I floss daily and then follow it up with the Water Pik to be sure everything is out of there.

I have been considering an irrigation system. I have been reading good things about them. I am just not sure how to choose one. I do use an electric toothbrush, it is the oral b braun, and the bristles are pretty soft. It worked great in the states but i was also going to the dentist frequently then too. I watch myself in the mirror when i brush to make sure i am keeping the toothbrush at a 45 degree angle. I have the peroxide and have heard excellent things about it on these boards but every time I go to use it I chicken out. i dont know what i am so afraid of.
I do have a question about the saltwater mixture that Brazos mentioned. Do i use table salt for it and how much salt in how much water.
Sometimes my gums feel odd. It is almost a throbbing but it isnt throbbing. It doesnt hurt but it is uncomfortable. What could this be caused from?
Thank You everyone who has replied to my post i really appreciate you taking the time to read it and give my suggestions.

Salt Water Rinse

8oz glass of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of table salt. Stir the mixture for about 1 minute so that most of the salt melts. Rinse your mouth (do not swallow) with the mixture. Repeat several times a day if possible.

Brazos
Thanks for the information. I am going to try the saltwater daily. If i use it every day will it damage my teeth or gums? Listerine is bad if used too much, and peroxide cannot be used every day.

Why can't peroxide be used every day?

I've been using it daily (several times a day) for the past few months, and totally gave up tooth paste, and for the first time in years, my gums have totally stopped bleeding when I clean my mouth, my breath is better, the skin around my mouth doesn't break out in sores nearly as much as it did with tooth paste (I would get cracks in the corners of my mouth). And, for the first time in years, my actual mouth pain (on the overall scale) is next to nothing.

I still have pain, don't get me wrong, but it's isolated and with respect to certain deeper dental conditions which are chronic.

My mouth has never been happier than this (at least since I've had all my dental problems). I just wish I learned of this early on when I still had all my teeth.

I followed all the dentists recommendations for years and my mouth just continued to deteriorate.

Now, the swelling is reduced, so is the redness, as I said, no more bleeding (or rarely, only if I skip a treatment or two with peroxide).

Also do be aware and read labels that many of the prescription dental rinses will discolour your teeth and turn them bluish-green, and the stains can only be removed by a dentist. (Personally, I think that's a great racquet they've got going -- they treat your gums with this rinse and know you've got to go back to them to de-stain your teeth). Aargh.

The healthiest my mouth ever felt, though, was about 20 years ago when I treated with a dentist whose primary focus was on oral health care. Oh sure, he did the whole dental stuff (general dentistry) but his focus was healthy mouth treatments.

It's been so long, I can't recall details, but the exams themselves were sooooo thorough, and twice a year I had my head, neck, throat, face, sinus, tongue, gums and teeth checked. They had this intensive treatment (I don't think it was scaling but the treatment sounds like it should have a name similar to that based on what it felt like)... it was just far more extensive than ANYTHING I have EVER experienced at ANY dentist EVER since that time. I've never been given such extensive care.

They also had programs if you wanted to participate, or if the doc felt it was required, where you'd go in once a week for specific cleaning types of things, there were probes and scraping and different,...medications I think (?) applied deep inside the gum pockets. It was just amazing!

I don't know if that helps much since I have no particulars but I know healthy mouth treatments ARE out there and they feel incredible.

------------------
Life isn't what happens to you -- it's how you react to it!

Thoughts don't make us who we are -- Actions do.