Yeah, I go to the dentist regularly. I think my last visit was a couple months ago and they didn't find anything wrong. I think they took x-rays that time, so if I had a bacterial problem, I'm sure they would've told me. Nope, I can't brush up and down because the gum on that tooth is very sensitive and it hurts to brush up and down. Thanks for the suggestions, Catty. I'll do the vanilla swish, and I just went out and bought my old toothpaste, the Aquafresh extreme clean or something. When I was using this toothpaste, my tooth didn't hurt so I'm guessing it really does get things extremely clean!