Certainly dental care is not my expertise, but I wanted to share with you a recent experience I had.

My dental hygenist has been on my case to do a better job flossing and taking care of my gums.  (I'm sure that this sounds a little familiar at least to a few of you.)  She has constantly been chiding me since I usually have a bit of tartar to clean off and lovely bleeding gums.  Two cleanings ago, she turned me onto interdental brushes and also suggested that I might use an oral irrigator (water pick is the best known brand, though it is often thought that this is the name for the type of product).  So I said I would take a look at it, and do what I could.  These were my perfect words of non-commitment.

When I got home I actually got right online and researched oral irrigators, and found one that made a lot of sense to me.  It is the Quick Breeze by a company named Oral Breeze.  It is a small attachment that hooks onto your faucet, has a small length of hose, and the water spray tip on the end.  It is very simple and very elegant in its form and function.  Water temperature and pressure is controlled by your faucet.  What I really like about this one is that it is small and tucks away in a drawer or bin and is easy to attach and use.  Also, there are no tanks to fill, so it is less work to use too.  You can find this product on Amazon.com by clicking on this link.

I also tried a variety of different interdental brushes to clean between the teeth that have larger spaces between them.  Why would you want to do that if you already floss?  That was my question anyhow, but it turns out that some of the surfaces in between the teeth are not flat, but actually can dip into the tooth creating a little nook or cave where food will be missed by the flossing.  The interdental brush will get into those little nooks and cranies with its bristles.  After trying a number of them I ended up using one made by GUM (the proxabrush handle).  What I like about this one is that there are very small brush heads available, you can replace the brush heads, and the brush head attaches to the handle at a ninety degree angle (which makes getting in between the back molars easier, without stretching your cheek out to the side).  You can find this product on Amazon.com by clicking on this link.

My routine became the following:

1. Floss (I use cheap unwaxed floss)
2. Interdental brush (GUM brand)
3. Ultrasound tooth brush (I'm currently using a really old Sonicare)
4. Oral irrigator (Quick Breeze)

Having followed this routine twice daily between my last two dental cleanings, my hygenist was awed.  She stated that mine were the cleanest teeth she had cleaned for a few months, and that my gums looked really great and healthy.  She only had one little spot that she needed to clean, but the rest she really didn't touch.  I must admit that I was very happy, as I have never had such a glowing review from her... and I am very motivated to keep up the routine.

Since what I thought was impossible for my teeth and gums is possible, I thought I would share it with you... in hope that you can benefit the same.