I had several years of painful and sanguine teeth cleanings. I'm not sure why that stopped, unless it just took that long for daily (for a while twice daily) flossings and rinsings with antiseptic mouth rinse to beat the problems... or unless it really was the switch from Colgate to Crest MultiCare (since replaced by Crest SomethingElse) right after the last of the owie cleanings. Seems unlikely but I refuse to change toothpastes again, just in case. Anyway, these days the cleanings are pretty much painless and nearly bloodless.

And my procrastinative tendencies are countered by my dentist's office's habit of scheduling my next appointment while I'm in the chair.