Taking care of teeth.

@splitimage: when I started looking up my Waterpic purchase on Amazon following @FooZe' post, I discovered that the model is half price today: Amazon.com

So I forgot about it, but yes, there are 10 pressure settings. And yes it is a dial.

Mine is at 10. I think it has always been there. It does not feel overly pressurized to me and I have not had any problem with it.

I also completely forgot about it, but in addition to pressure settings and massage versus floss settings, there are different tips. I now recall that there were various tips when I unpacked the purchase but do not remember where I store unused tips. I use the basic tip.

Click on the thumbnail to see the various tips as shown on Amazon's product page.

I've always used the standard ("Classic") tip. I'm sure a few others came with my (plug-in) Waterpik but after briefly trying them out, I put them away somewhere and now I can't even find them.

Some years ago, when I was concerned with keeping the pressure low rather than high, I even drilled out one of my tips a little oversize (and marked it with tape to identify it). The hygienist expressed "concern" when I mentioned it to her, and that was when she started demanding that I use maximum pressure.

The tips for my "travel" Waterpik don't interchange with the others. I suspect they may deliver higher flow at lower pressure than the other system.

I vaguely remember that the directions for the rubber-padded tip that you use for flushing out gum pockets, said to keep the pressure on the low side. That sounds more like what's called "irrigation" than like blasting off plaque.

Interesting about the different tips on the waterpic. I think I'm going to stick to classic floss for now, but I'll talk with the hygienist when I next go in.

Flossed but didn't brush yesterday. I'm starting to get to the point, where my mouth doesn't feel good if I don't floss.

Wonderful!

Worked very late in the office today. It was too early to brush when I got home because I was very hungry and needed to eat, take meds, and go to bed. But hopefully I will be back on track tomorrow.

Once again flossed but didn't brush yesterday.

Brushed for the 2nd time today.

Also, yesterday tried Waterpik on Massage. It was very slow so I did not have patience for it. I switched back to the floss setting.

Didn't manage to brush or floss yesterday.

Brushed for the second time today. @splitimage, as you floss, consider that flossing helps prevent heart disease.

Here is one article on the subject:

Periodontal assessment of patients undergoing angioplasty for treatment of coronary artery disease - PubMed

Abstract
Background: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess the periodontal condition of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in order to verify the association between CAD and certain periodontal parameters.

Methods: Eighty patients (48 males and 32 females) were recruited from the Cleveland University Hospitals, Division of Cardiology (aged 23 to 83, median age 54 years). Upon cardiac catheterization, 50 were diagnosed with severe CAD (experimental group) and 30 with no angiographic evidence of CAD (control group). Patients with CAD were divided into 3 subgroups according to the clinical diagnosis of acute infarction (Al) (n = 20), stable angina (SA) (n = 20), and unstable angina (UA) (n = 10). The following dental, medical, and social histories were recorded: number of dental visits/year, frequency of brushing/day and flossing/week, tobacco use, presence/absence of hypertension, diabetes, total cholesterol level, and the highest level of education completed. The following periodontal parameters were also assessed for each subject: plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and number of missing teeth. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether there was a significant correlation between these periodontal parameters and CAD.

Results: The significant confounding factors for the present study were found to be age and gender. The periodontal condition of the 80 subjects was clinically diagnosed as gingivitis and/or mild periodontitis. Analysis of the data after adjusting for age and gender demonstrated a statistically significant association between BOP and GI and CAD in patients with Al; and facial/lingual CAL in patients with UA. No significant associations were found between PD, interproximal CAL, number of missing teeth, or dental/medical histories and CAD.

Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, gingival inflammation may be considered a more significant risk factor for CAD than previously reported.

Interesting @Tart Cherry Jam, I had heard this before.

Flossed and brushed yesterday - yay!

Congratulations!

Brushed for the 2nd time today.

Way to go.

Brushed and flossed yesterday.


I've signed up for the Tiny Habits program, and am making flossing and brushing two of my habits to practice and for my 3rd I'm making it for taking my iron supplements which I never remember to take.

I donate blood regularly and in the past I made the mistake of not taking iron supplements which ultimately drove my ferritin levels almost down to zero. It was very hard to bring them back up and now I take my iron supplements religiously without fail. My anemia was so bad that not only did I have to discontinue blood donations for a whole year but also I needed to see a hematologist. I am now doing fine, am not in the continuing care of the hematologist anymore, and my hemoglobin is in the 14-15 range despite regular donations. I credit taking the supplement with these successes.

***

Did the 2nd brushing today.

Interesting. Glad your levels are now normal. Yeah it's my ferretin that's very low. I'm not sure what my block is around taking the supplement, but I've never been able to take it regularly. I'm hoping this challenge will jump start me.

Flossed but didn't brush yesterday.

Brushed and flossed yesterday.

Good for you!

I take my iron pills, Vit D3 and lutein with breakfast. Since I eat breakfast on most days, it is easy. When I skip breakfast, I remember to take the supplements with supper. My pillbox with supplements is on my dinner table.

Brushed for the second time, yesterday and today.

One pocket between my back teeth had a little bleeding when I flossed this morning. What can I do other than continue flossing religiously?!