Teeth brushing | Autism PDD
Hello everyone.
Any ideas on how to get my son to brush his teeth? I'm so frustrated with this. I still have to wipe his teeth with a washcloth which isn't an easy task. My son gags and coughs at the thought of putting anything in his mouth. Has anyone else had this problem?
Thanks.
We actually just conquered this recently, my son too has oral sensitivities so we made a game of it,( we pretty much make a game of everything) he loves music and he loves to dance so before we did anything, we bought him every toothbrush known to man ( he settled on the disney princess one LOL) we blasted dance music and dance around in the bathroom, later i stopped the music and started chanting, "go connor , brush your teeth now" while stomping and clapping, then i pause and point to him, he would brush his teeath, then i'd start allover again, i guess for us, we found what worked and alot of it is trial and error, we've read books on it, had him not only brush our teeth for us (OUCH) but we also bought the game crocodile dentist ( 2 actually, 1 to play and 1 tobrush his teeth) we let him practice on the crocodile, it worked well, even when he wouldn't brush, we would incorporate it in our nighttime routine, this helped pave the way, i hope you might beable to pull things out iof our experience to help, i'm sure others will beable to tell you what worked for them !OHHH teeth brushing..LOL Adam still has issues with this. THe electric toothbrushed helped to the point where I can actually get him to do it but I sing to him too while doing it. He still will purse his top lip so tight as to keep the brush off of his front teeth. His top front teeth are suffering from this. Thank god they are baby teeth. Now that I can actually get the brush in his mouth I am more persistant and it takes forever to get it done. But I do notice that as time goes on it gets easier. At least we don't have meltdowns on this one anymore. Even though he doesn't like it very much and it's difficult to get the top teeth he at least is not screaming anymore. THe singing really helps too like shakes has mentioned.
Karrie
I was also told early on to "massage" his cheeks/jaw. We still have a little trouble...he does a terrible job, as he does it himself...doesn't like us touching his face/mouth. But I have his older brothers working with him...step by step....we often do it together so he can watch what I do. Electric toothbrush didn't work, the noise freaked him out.
Our biggest problem...he can't spit! How do you teach someone to spit???? Eating toothpaste can't be fun...but I can't even get him to spit water! It's so weird...he's a boy...isn't he supposed to be "born with this talent!?" (kidding)
One thing that helped me out was to have his older siblings brush in front of him and I had to get him a sponge bob tooth brush and toothpaste. At first he just carried them around with him and slept with them (lol). So I made mention to his ABA teacher and she implemented it into is IGP so he was taken into the bathroom with another one of his peers who enjoyed brushing his teeth. Now there is something about him watching his peers vs his siblings that makes a difference haven't figured it out yet maybe because his sibs are all female and his peers are boys like him?? So eversince the day he was taken to the bathroom he has been brushing his own teeth and putting his own tooth paste on the brush!!!!! He passed the goal on the IGP also yay!!! So maybe if he has a friend or playmate who could show him how to brush it might help but all kids are different. Good luck
Nita
Oh another thing that he enjoys is the show JO JO the circus clown and on one of the dvd's we have JoJo brushes her teeth with her pet lion and they sing a song along with brushing and he sings that now while he brushes his teeth he also tries to make the bubbles foam out of his mouth like Jo Jo and the lion do ugh he makes a mess of himself ......but I would rather clean the mess than take him to a dentist[QUOTE=horanimals]
Our biggest problem...he can't spit! How do you teach someone to spit???? Eating toothpaste can't be fun...but I can't even get him to spit water! It's so weird...he's a boy...isn't he supposed to be "born with this talent!?" (kidding) [/QUOTE] LOL funny. Adam can't spit either!!!! I have often wondered what I can do to teach him this skill. As it is we use a minimal amount of toothpaste because he swallows it all. Karrie Karrie I'm with you on the M & M's Annie. My sons cavity count was 11, with 2 root canals, and 2 caps. We had to drive 2 hours to find a decent dentist who knew how to handle Matthew. One of the dentists we saw gave me the third degree for not brushing his teeth and for still letting Matthew use his sippy cup to go to sleep. (I only put an ounce of milk in it, just enough for him to taste). When I said to the dentist that he just had no idea how strong Matthew was and how hard it could be to get him to let me brush his teeth, he just looked at me like I was an idiotic poor excuse for a mother. Anyway, Matthew finally lets me brush his teeth. But we have our little noises we have to make in order for it to be accomplished. He has a blue toothrush with spots all over it that he calls his BooBah brush. So, while I'm brushing I keep chanting "boobah beebah, boo boo bee bah." I look and sound ridiculous but at least his teeth are brushed with little hassle. I'm right w/ you guys and lately my Nicholas, (4 1/2 dx w/ pdd/nos), just started letting me put the toothbrush up to his mouth...he will only let me touch his front teeth with it but its huge! I use the wash cloth to do the whole mouth, that use to be a wrestling match, but lately I've been doing it while he plays with the water in the sink and will first ask him to show me where mommy's teeth are, and he will point and then I ask where are Nicholas teeth and he will put my finger to his teeth and when he does I go in for action LOL...he lets me for a minute then we break, do it again, then break, then finish up...he's super about it So now I want him to brush...so I let him brush my teeth first and then he puts the brush to his mouth and now he lets me put the brush to his mouth and it gets longer each time, first it was to a very closed lipped mouth and now we have front teeth showing, so I'm hopeful we'll just continue our long journey forward taking baby steps and keeping it fun and encouraging as I can...singing songs about it all the while...music really helps my guy! ; ) Well here's wishing luck to us all! Ali ohh wow -we learned our lesson this year..all of Drew's ABA instructors were using M& M's for reinforcers and we were not diligent on the brushing anyway -long story short -first dental visit 16 cavities 2 mini root canals he had to be put under local anaesthesia - very upsetting for me as I could only think of things that could go wrong with operating procedures for little ones anyway the pediatric sugeon taught us how to trick him - I sit him on my lap facing me and you sort of play and dip him and then when u sit back up - he does not have the stomach muscle to get up and then my hubby helps brush his teeth..it works sometimes oh my gosh Annie! so sorry you're little guy had to go through that! that's a big fear since we have not yet been to the dentist...I have an appointment in Sept...yikes...but my guy doesn't eat any sweets or drink juice/soda only water and milk, but still I worry all the time about it! big hugs to you both! Oh and I think m&m's would work on me too LOL...unlike my son I LOVE SWEETS! lol... Ali I was told years ago to not let the child drink any milk or juice during the night or go to bed with it. Both of them have sugar in it. And it can lead to tooth decay, ear infections, etc.. Tammy
I have his brother's working on it with him....but he just doesn't get it...he'll make the "noise" but nothing comes out!! Then his bros start laughing, and well, that doesn't help!
Crest spinbrush which he calls a "circle brush" works for him. He likes the firetruck.
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