Gingivitis Help
At my last dental cleaning (October) I got told I had the start of gingivitis — lots of 4s coming up on my teeth cleaning. I’ll admit, I hadn’t been the best with my brushing and flossing. There were a lot of times where I “didn’t have time for it” and would skip. I was using an electric toothbrush and flossing “nightly” (loosely).
I had one round of gingivial therapy done (dentist couldn’t get me in for a second round) and tried Parodontax toothpaste I believe, but I reacted to it — peeling gums, burning pain, so I went back to my usual toothpaste.
Now I go for my 6 month cleaning again today. In the past 6 months I have been strenuous with brushing and flossing. I always take my time with it, haven’t skipped a day.
Lo and behold — my numbers are even worse.
I had gingival therapy done again and will be going back for the second treatment in two weeks. I will likely be using a chlorhexidine rinse. I’ll keep up my brushing and flossing and I will be getting a waterpik as well.
My dentist is considering having me go for cleanings every 3 - 4 months, but they even said today that my teeth were close to perfect (little plaque, tartar) and it was really just my gums in dire need.
They speculated diet and my hormonal birth control pills. I also do wear an OTC mouth guard for teeth grinding.
I’m really frightened and at a loss, trying to do whatever I can to get this under control. I do a lot of other small things too (rinsing with water after having anything acidic + not eating / drinking after my final brush of the night) but I’m really at a loss and frightened.
Thanks to any advice!!