Table 2 Example participant quotes—changes in everyday life

Changes in diet and eating

‘When I’ve forgotten to floss for a little while it does, it causes difficulty and I’ll opt for soups instead of, for example, chewier foods and toffees and things like that’ (Participant 10, Female, 23, Gingivitis)

‘It can be, erm, it can be a bit of a nightmare to eat on that particular side.  That can happen with rough foods.  That sort of thing…Yes, I would avoid eating anything on that side of the mouth’ (Participant 13, Male, 28, Gingivitis)

Change in brushing habits

‘The dentist said, “You brush this way, don’t you?” I said, “Yeah,” and she said, “No, you should brush this way because…”…Up and down, rather than lengthways, because lengthways what you’re doing is you’re brushing away some of the enamel on the top of your teeth where the tooth and the gum meets. You’re starting to get close to exposing more sensitive parts of the teeth – the internal part of the teeth’ (Participant 11, Male, 54, Gingivitis)

‘So that was worse. Er yeah, but like basically I just did what I normally do which is pay a bit more extra attention to it, brush a bit more in that area, and it did eventually clear up’ (Participant 3, Male, 27, Gingivitis)

Use of mouthwash

‘Yes, I would make sure that I cleaned more thoroughly and actually I said I didn’t use any other dental products, but when I got inflamed gums, I might use a mouthwash.   I might use Corsodyl but only for a couple of days until the inflammation goes’ (Participant 4, Female, 64, Gingivitis)

Flossing and interdental brushes

‘Yeah, I thought it was fine and then they said do you floss and I said no, not really. If I’ve got something in my teeth then yes, but If I don’t, then no’ (Participant 2, Female, 30, Gingivitis)

‘Seeing the hygienist every 3 months, you know, when I got the usual telling off that I hadn’t been doing it right, all that kind of good stuff, and she pointed me out in the direction of some of the cleaning tools I wasn’t aware was available like the erm, the teepee brushes and stuff, er and gradually it’s kind of got under control’ (Participant 19, Male, 56, Periodontal disease)