So my teeth used to be heavily crowded and impossible to floss, plus as a teen I had very serious depression and executive dysfunction. My teeth were a disaster by the time I got braces on, and those things seriously impeded my ability to brush and stuff. I got them off a few years ago; one of my molars legitimately broke in half when I bit down on soft chocolate, it was so bad.
It's been a lot of repairative work and I've been lucky to have access to it. I'm told I'm doing well on caring for my teeth now which is rad. But two seperate people, my dentist and one of his guys, made a funny suggestion.
"Yeah sis, you got this super strong toothpaste right, 1.1% sodium fluoride? Just leave some of that on your teeth every night, in your lil plastic retainees, trust me sis."
This feels so incredibly wrong, like I didn't even rinse my mouth, and now there is toothpaste on my teeth. I'm supposed to sleep like this? This shit is as bad as upper lip estradiol absorbtion. Why am I tormented by silly sensory suggestions lately? 'Just leave the toothpaste on'...
I have those, but my teeth bleed so much after I don't really want to use them. I'll try to force myself soon. I know of the technique to also brush your gums, I've been doing it for many many years.
It does suck for a while, your mouth will bleed a lot at first and it hurts a lot, but it stops hurting after a while (and is much cheaper and less painful than a deep clean). The hardest part for me was remembering to do it every day, you can forget a day every now and then after your mouth is used to it, but you need to do it every day for a couple of weeks at least. Also the hydration part is really important too, make sure you're drinking enough water every day, it helps a lot with receding gums.
Can I recommend a water pick/irrigator? They aren't super expensive, and really really effective!
https://www.waterpik.com/products/dental-water-flosser/WP-670/
I paid like half of the MSRP for mine.