Which is why using a dilution of the 3% may be very wise.

However, if I was doing something like cleaning sewers, or some other dirty job, and cut or injured myself, I would trust a 3% solution to clear away the nasties that might be more horrible than a scar. Any.day.

Between my oral surgeon’s staff and I we came up with the current way I brush my teeth. (after 2 abscesses in 2 years I wanted a method to deter this if possible).

I use salt and baking soda to brush with a 1% hydrogen peroxide rinse (2 parts water to one part 3% hydrogen peroxide) You can even user a lesser % by cutting that 1% in half.

First I brush the gums making sure not to touch the teeth. This starts breaking apart the biofilm, or plaque, that clings to ever surface in the mouth. I do the outsides, rinsing the brush often, then the inside including the palate.

Next I brush the tongue and rinse my mouth thoroughly.

Then I start brushing the teeth STARTING at the gum ABOVE the gum line and dragging DOWN, rinsing the brush after every two or three strokes. Outside of teeth first, then inside and yes, you have to hold your brush differently to get the inside. Normally I go over the teeth twice this way.

Again rinse mouth and brush thoroughly and then holding the brush absolutely flat against the teeth I sweep it back and forth. Again, two rounds.

Note here at the end, my last abscess did not result in an emergency trip to the dental office and the staff couldn’t find any sign of it when I went in later. This is a “your result may vary” type of thing, but … it was Friday night when a tooth blew up with an abscess and my dental office is NOT open on the weekend. Not wanting to pay for emergency service I desperately was looking over the net for handling that would last until Monday.

Came across a note about grapefruit seed extract which we have in the cupboard for animal care. It’s a nasty tasting concoction, so I put about ten drops in a cup of applesauce and slowly ate it. At first I thought I was imagining things because the pain lessened considerably, but I thought maybe the dampness from the applesauce was just coating the nerves or something. As I ate it the pain lessened even more and to my surprise the swelling went down by half by the time I was done. Now if it would have stayed at that state I would have been quite happy and gone into the dental office on Monday, but, the next morning the swelling was nearly gone and the pain was nonexistent.

Hmmm… So, I repeated this both Saturday and Sunday morning and evening and by Monday there was no sign of it. At my next scheduled visit I told them about this, so I was x-rayed and examined and there wasn’t a trace of it. Of course the dental staff cautioned against it, but I view this as simply their wanting to protect themselves – they HAVE to say it for insurance reasons. The extract I use comes from Nutribiotic ( you can Google them).