The key premise is roughly: disrupt the plaque biofilm every 24 hours. The rest of the protocol is a method for doing that. The change in my gum health was profound after only about three days. Working with Dr. Nigrelle, you get a "process checkup" via plaque staining dye every time you go in. So you get feedback as to where you need to improve technique. I also got some extra dye swabs so I could do self-checks more frequently. The visual feedback is super-useful for dialing in technique, but not critical for that initial baseline boost in dental health.
A big tip for the stim-u-dents or similar cleaning aids. Don't think of them as "toothpicks". Think of them and use them like tiny tootbrushes that can work around the teeth near the gumline and in-between the teeth. It's the lateral faces of the picks that act as scrubbing tools. Also, the parts about lathering with toothpaste are important. The dye tells the story, and Dr. Nigrelle does this comparison with his patients: you learn that you can spend a long, long time scrubbing with a stim-u-dent or toothbrush without toothpaste and kinda sorta get the plaque, or you can lather up some toothpaste and obliterate it in short order.
With the regular 'brush compliance checks' mine does, an electrical toothbrush made significant difference. And it's not because I spend longer brushing, I even think I brush less in wall-clock time. The electrical one just seems to be more thorough ('seems' as in 'confirmed with dentist-administered plaque and gum health measurements', not 'I really want to believe so in my mind I make it so').
Electrical brush was night and day for me. Until I was 19 or so, I used to have a cavity nearly every check-up. Then, I got an electrical toothbrush, and it just stopped.
Now most of the work is maintenance on all those fillings, damage had been done, unfortunately.
One thing that has done a lot for me is I've been doing more brushing without toothpaste. I do use toothpaste, but when I do it I treat it more as a fluoride treatment than as a tool to get off plaque. When I'm trying to get off plaque I use a dry brush.
As my post above indicates, this effect is really important. The plaque biofilm is really sticky. I'm not sure what's going on in GP's case, but when using a plaque staining dye to see what's going on, it's clear that toothpaste makes a huge difference in the ability to mechanically disrupt plaque. It's amazingly hard to do without toothpaste.
If everything goes as planned:
The abrasive is more likely to scratch what's on the teeth; and
the teeth are more likely to scratch the toothpaste if everything goes as planned.
That's what I do. Once to get rid of food debris. Then start with toothpaste. Then floss, rinse, and a quick brush again with toothpaste. But sadly too little too late with my teeth. They are screwed.
I rarely ate sweets as a child and avoid sugar. I rarely eat processed foods. Drink is another matter. I most likely have harmed my teeth from drinking beer/wine/smoothies and from being too rough when cleaning. I really miss my younger healthy teeth.
My teeth have felt horrible ever since they failed and were drilled and filled. And now bring me a lot of misery. Look after your teeth! Healthy teeth are incredibly attractive. IMHO.
I usually do a "milk-rinse", because I have the feeling it brings the pH back to neutral a lot quicker than water. But milk contains sugar, so perhaps a water-rinse after that is a good idea.
milk is a slight acid, so no, water would still be a better job of balancing pH, and also better because water contains no sugars or other things that might stick to your teeth.
The key premise is roughly: disrupt the plaque biofilm every 24 hours. The rest of the protocol is a method for doing that. The change in my gum health was profound after only about three days. Working with Dr. Nigrelle, you get a "process checkup" via plaque staining dye every time you go in. So you get feedback as to where you need to improve technique. I also got some extra dye swabs so I could do self-checks more frequently. The visual feedback is super-useful for dialing in technique, but not critical for that initial baseline boost in dental health.
A big tip for the stim-u-dents or similar cleaning aids. Don't think of them as "toothpicks". Think of them and use them like tiny tootbrushes that can work around the teeth near the gumline and in-between the teeth. It's the lateral faces of the picks that act as scrubbing tools. Also, the parts about lathering with toothpaste are important. The dye tells the story, and Dr. Nigrelle does this comparison with his patients: you learn that you can spend a long, long time scrubbing with a stim-u-dent or toothbrush without toothpaste and kinda sorta get the plaque, or you can lather up some toothpaste and obliterate it in short order.