Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello,
I have been noticing that my bottom gums look quite irritated in the front and today i asked my doctor and he said they were "irritated and fragile." the last thing i want is to damage my gums. He said that i was not using my Stimudents correctly and showed me how to poke around and stimulate my gums. Is this the right thing to do? Is there anything else I can do in addition to stimulating my gums, like rinse with Peridex? I just want to fix this ASAP. I brush 3x day, floss/ use mouthwash. Thanks for any and all advice!!!

Make sure you're using a SOFT bristle brush and not scrubbing hard with that.

I have always had healthy gums but once I got braces, I was being a little TOO diligent with my brushing and irritated my gums on the top right side.

I don't know what Stimundents are. I was just shown to brush the gums lightly in a circular motion with the same soft toothbrush I use for the teeth.
So you basically do the same motion you would do to brush brace-less teeth, just below the gumline to stimulate the gums.
I would go over each area only once or twice though to not overdo it.

One more thing. When I notice any area of my gums getting irritated and I do the gentle brushing that area very soon gets better. Sometimes brushing in the direction from gum to tooth with a single stroke (only that direction not back) helps when the gums are already irritated.

One word...ROTADENT! I had large gum pockets many years ago, went for root planing to clean them up. Dentist told me about the electric toothbrush Rotadent and after I used it I never had a problem with my gums. It has contour tipped and regular round brushes.

Also there is a product (need a prescription from dentist) that you swish with that actually shrinks those pockets and heals the gum. Now if I can only think of the name of it. Ask your dentist. Maybe it was peridex, just not sure. It worked great for me too.

I have to second Chris' recommendation for the Rotadent toothbrush. I've only gotten mine a week or so ago, so I don't know yet what the long-term results will be. But my hygenist recommended it for the same reason, the gum pockets are a little too deep and I had too much plaque buildup within a short time although I tried to brush well with a manual brush. The Rotadent is gentle, but does a great job with the brushing.
When you go see your hygenist, he/she may recommend it anyway, when they see your gums. It's only available at the dental office, not in stores. I think the investment will be well worth it.

Chris, did they also tell you to use the Rotadent with gel toothpaste only?

What do you mean by saying the gum pockets are a little too deep? Mine just seem swollen and a little pulled away from the tooth at the top.

The hygenists measures them, 5 mm (five millimeters) is too deep. They like to see just ones and twos, maybe threes.
My gums don't look swollen or anything, at least to my untrained eye.