How Hard is Your Toothbrush?

Putting toothpaste on a toothbrush.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it came to choosing between medium and soft toothbrushes, I always chose the medium. Occasionally I'd happen to get a soft one, but those always felt like they wouldn't actually do anything.

Then last time I went to the dentist, he said I should be using a soft toothbrush.  Turns out those medium toothbrushes can cause damage to the gums.  If only he'd mentioned this ages ago...

I don't know if using a soft toothbrush will reverse the damage, but at least it won't get worse, right?  The thing I don't understand is, if nobody should actually use those medium toothbrushes, which is what the dentist said, then why do they make them?  Why even give people the choice to buy them?

I've been reading about this Extra soft toothbrush from PeriClean and thinking I should try one of these next.  Apparently even the standard soft toothbrushes can still cause damage, mainly because people brush too hard and use too much force - probably because that soft toothbrush doesn't feel like it's hard enough.  The toothbrush from PeriClean has a rubber head and will effectively clean teeth without damaging either teeth or gums.  BRUSH SMARTER, NOT HARDER, is what they say - and now I'm wondering if I'm just brushing harder now that I'm using the softer toothbrushes and not helping myself at all.

I'm not sure I want to spend that much on a toothbrush, but if it's really that much better, it just might be worth it.  Has anyone tried one of these?  Do you like it?