Hello Burntmarshmellow,
Thank you so much for such a wonderful, heart warming reply. I will also post in the dental forum as you advised.

No I'm not on any meds or antibiotics. Last week the dentist took an x-ray and said that I didn't have an abscess and everything seems ok. He gave me a anti-bacterial mouth wash to use twice daily as he said the gum looked a little irritated. I'm back to see him again this week. He said if I'm still having problems he might need to "go in" and see what's causing them. I'm not at all comfortable about that though!

Thanks again Burntmarshmellow!

If anyone else has any thoughts I'd really love to hear them! I'm a bit of a mess at the moment.