i've been using (actual) baking soda and peroxide (not some toothpaste that contains them along with a bunch of other junk) more often than not, and my last dental cleaning went great. my gums were in good shape and i wasn't bleeding all over the place.
i still fucking hate the ultrasonic cleaning thingie though. not only is it absolute torture, i'm convinced that it's a bad idea to get teeth THAT clean. it's sort of like when the otolaryngologist used to vacuum out my ears. it was cool that there was a technology available to do this -- but it was a service that no one should really need on any kind of regular basis.