Swollen gums with braces--help!

Hello! My son has had braces for a year and a half now. After his appointment this last January, the gums in the back of his mouth began to swell (before that he never had issues). After his dental cleaning in January, the hygenist told us he has areas of decalcification on his teeth. The ortho tech said he needed to to a better job brushing his teeth, and showed us what she wanted him to do. Since that time it has been a big struggle. His gums in the back of his mouth are now right on top of his brackets, in spite of a great deal of effort on his part. The ortho office isn't a whole lot of help; they just tell him he's not doing it good enough. We even bought a sonic toothbrush that the office sells with the idea that it would help. It hasn't. Here is his routine: In the morning and after school: He brushes his teeth in tiny circles with a regular toothbrush wetted with water, and then brushes away from his gumline, as the ortho tech showed him to do. He brushes his teeth with the sonic toothbrush on the "gum care" setting with fluoride toothpaste for 3 minutes. He has me or his dad check to see if we see any spots he missed. He rinses with salt water to help with the swelling. Before bed he does the following routine: Uses the proxa brush to get in between his teeth and braces (can't use it on back teeth because of swelling) Flosses Brushes his teeth in tiny circles with wetted regular toothbrush, then away from gums as ortho tech showed him Rinses mouth with Closys (an antiseptic rinse), swishing vigorously to dislodge any missed food particles Brushes his teeth with the sonic toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste on "gum care" setting for 3 minutes Has his dad or me look to make sure he didn't miss any spots Rinses mouth with Listerine to kill plaque germs Rinses mouth with fluoride rinse to help reduce decalcification It's very frustrating for him to put so much effort into it only to be told he isn't doing a good job. It's very difficult to see if he's getting the food out of his brackets in the back due to the swelling. I can totally understand his frustration, and I share it. Why go to all this effort only to go into the ortho to have them tell us he's not working hard enough on his teeth? The ortho tech said he can brush his teeth all day but if he doesn't get the food out it won't make a difference. When I asked her if she would watch him brush his teeth so she could show him where he's doing it wrong, she just took him over to the chair and showed me (and him, holding a mirror) what he needs to be doing--little circles on each tooth and then brushing away from gumline). It's very difficult to keep him motivated. I never had braces, so I never had to deal with this. Hubby says he didn't take near as good care of his teeth when he had braces (he never flossed and drank tons of Pepsi) and doesn't remember having this issue. I made an appointment with the ortho tech to look at his teeth in two weeks to see how he's doing (he's not due for an adjustment for another 5 weeks), and if they say he still isn't doing well, I am going to insist the tech WATCH him brush his teeth so she can correct his mistakes (because to me it looks like he's doing what she showed him), and SHOW me where the food is, because I can't see it on the back teeth with his gums so swollen. His front teeth look good, and his gums are not swollen in front. His gums do not bleed when he brushes, and he says they don't hurt, but they are swollen and "squishy" in the back. We are at the end of our rope with this. Do you have any advice/encouragement? Can the swelling be reduced or is he just going to have to live with it until the braces come off?