Comfrey tea, steeped for 20-30 minutes and then used in the same way (and if you use a tea bag, you can tuck it against the affected part of the gums) may help. It's amazingly good for getting cells to regenerate and tissue to heal.
I'd be afraid of sealing an infection in and driving it deeper. Isn't comfrey famous for that?
Goldenseal. Good stuff. But I've no experience with it for gum infections.
The salt water and the peroxide didn't work for me, but it did for many others. Same with the water pic.
All that worked for me was a pile of extractions, a few root canals and excellent dentures. My problems were particular and unusual in that the gum problems could only be cured by removing the teeth. When I had a mouthful of teeth, I'd not heard of herbs, just the salt water, peroxide and water pic, flossing.
parsonwife, I hope your husband gets relief. A decent dentist should be able to help him out with the infection
Echinacea will boost the immune system. Goldenseal is good for getting rid of nasties. Hit the vitamins.
Here's a link to a blog post by an herbalist who used monarda tincture for a gum infection.
http://bearmedicineherbals.com/monarda-for-your-mouth.html