By Jove, Birte, you were so right! I've been drinking orange juice and eating oranges all through the weekend and yesterday I got me a bottle of multivitamins at the pharmacy and - voilą - my gums are much better already and I haven't bled since yesterday!
Your grandmother's basic wisdom is incredibly useful. Just a few rules, but absolutely fundamental to good health. Thanks for the poem, I'm going to print it out.

Rosebud, I'll try that baby floss, too and I sure will look for Goldenseal when I find out what it is in Spanish (not sure we have it here). Here they say that chewing licorice root is great for gums. It used to be available at all fruit stands and farmer's markets, but now with the industrialization of the food sector it's almost impossible to find. I loved that delicious licorice taste that filled your mouth when you chewed that woody little stick.

CS, thanks for the "double whammy" tip, I'll do that too.
Ain't this forum great, though? Here we are passing on everything from little tricks and to serious advice that so often make a big difference in someone else's life.
You guys can't even imagine how grateful I am for all this pool of wisdom that you all represent!

And now to the red cane...I don't need one yet, but should I ever need one, it will be RED! Hey CS, the version with spikes is something only you could come up with!

Hugs to all
Teresa
And