My battle with gingivitis

Meet Sherry, my dental hygienist now for ??? 7 years now I believe. We've gone through a lot with my teeth. I even believe we're like minded souls as we've gotten to know each other quite well during my frequent, ongoing appointments. Oh, the stories we know about each other. Ha ha ha ... even if I have a hard time talking with her tools in my mouth! Somehow I manage to get it all out. We both one big thing in common. We each have a daughter that's very ill. Ugh.

People! If there's one thing you need to know, and the most important, about your bleeding gums. STOP SMOKING NOW!!! And if you have a tooth giving you a huge problem with a huge pocket (those of you suffering with pockets know what I'm talking about), get rid of it. I've struggled with gingivitis since I was a teenager. Coincidently I started smoking then. Duh!

Fortunately, my bad, annoying tooth was the very back one on the upper right with a 10 mm pocket I'd been fighting for years. That tooth developed a cavity and already had a large filling in it and after discussing the situation with my dentist it was decided to get rid of it. Surprisingly, since the tooth has been gone ALL the pockets have stopped aggravating me. Why I even get complimented on the condition of my gums by all who work in it <sic> But dang, I'm telling you that by stopping smoking, deep planing, and then getting rid of one annoying tooth took care of all. It was even agreed we'd try 6 month appointments. I was going every 3 months trying to keep things in check.

So I'm going to list all that I do and have done that has given me gums like I can't remember ever having. Ever.

1. Sonicare toothbrush along with a minimum of daily brushing (a must!).
2. Daily flossing, and if you must, to get the job done and clean well between your teeth, get the brushs designed for in between your teeth (read, the spaces between your teeth that have grown larger because of bone loss r/t your gingivitis!)
3. Stop smoking! (2000) Yesterday!
4. A dental cleaning every 3 months (read, your insurance will only pay for it twice a year so the other two are on you).
5. Deep planing in 2003. (I was shown the chunks of nicotine still up in my gums!)
6. ACT mouthwash/rinse (2007).
7. Removing a tooth with a large, annoying pocket that won't heal (2008). (It's very possible it's keeping a low grade infection in your whole mouth wrecking havoc with all your pockets).

Follow the above and soon you'll have the people that play on the inside of your mouth complimenting you on your gums too! I am determined to have my teeth when I pass over!

Oh, and the picture of the double rainbow. On me. I went to take the dogs out to do their duty and had to run back in the house and grab my camera. God is good.