theeth brushing | Autism PDD

Have you tried an all natural or organic tooth gel...that way when he swallows it it won't hurt him...I could write a book about tooth brushing...My now 10 yr old drove me nuts with allof the hitting, bitting and running away...what really calmed him down was removing all chemicals from the products he was using...I started with using Weleda tooth gel and through away the crest...that was making him crazy...then he drink only distilled water and finally, he baths using a bath ball (whole foods)...I place the ball under the running water and it's like a shower filter that changes the chlorine in the tap water and turns it into free chlorine (zinc cloride)!!

does any one has any idea about making this kids brushing their theeth.

my son doesnt know how to spit water out and also he loves to eat thoothe paste whish is not good for them. any luck anybody?

With Ty, the Sponge Bob electric tooth brush did the trick, but we have to drive it. We are working on him doing it with moderate sucess. We use the Sponge Bob toothpaste too.We did a tooth brushing program. We took pictures of my son with these
steps.
1.goes to sink and turns on water
2.wets toothbrush and turns off water
3.gets toothbrush and puts toothpaste on
4.brushes teeth
5.rinses and spits water

We had him tell us what each of the steps were until hecould recite the
routine and put the pictures in order
We had him practice each of the steps in the right order.

WE do ABA so we ran it like any other porgram. We made sure that with
any self help., little steps were broke down and each step was taught
separately. We also did this as 5 step sequencing program. We targeted
this twice a day and he learned it. We still have this program on
maintanence.

For those who are concerned with swallowing tooth paste. you may check
into the baby toothpaste like weeleda or some other natural brand those
are pretty harmless if swallowed.
Getting them to brush well is sooooo hard, even when they have the basic skill.   I have mine chew or rub the toothbrush for awhile inside the mouth while watching TV.

I had to pin my son down to brush his teeth until he was 3-1/2.  I think his main problem was oral defensiveness, though we didn't know what that was at the time!  He didn't like the feel of the toothbrush, the feel of saliva and foam increasing in his mouth, or the taste of the toothpaste.  It helped finding a low-foaming toothpaste.  Another idea is a a rubber-padded toothbrush, which we use for our youngest son (with our autistic son we use a 3-sided toothbrush which cleans the top and both sides of the teeth in one fell swoop).

It also helped getting him a cup with a favorite figure and helping him understand why toothbrushing is important.

Here are some sample social stories (let me know if any of the links don't work):

http://www.educ.ttu.edu/EDSP/burkhartproject/ModuleThree/Dif ferent_Approaches/Social_Stories.htm  - about teeth brushing

http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/autistic/Social%20Stories/Pages/br ushing_my_teeth.htm

http://www.polyxo.com/socialstories/ss0005.html

Brushing Teeth Social Story 4 pages (illustrated)

http://www.curearchives.com/Advice-needed.t3060-8.html

Good luck with everything!

NorwayMom39293.031712963Hi Allegra:

I also have a ASD child like yours but he is a boy (4 1/2)..he still isn't talking much and very hard to understand...I just looked at her ice cream video and she is sooo adorable...congrats on all her progress with very little services...we are soaking our 4 yr old with services and the language is soo slow!!! He too struggled with tooth brushing as well and it has improved so much with the suggestions that I mentioned...I also try to talk him through it and keep the tone soft and relaxed and that seems to help him!!! We also use essential oils to help with the anxiety (i.e. Peace and Calming)..these really help for the emotions...the oils go straight to the section of the brain that controls emotions!! Just another thought!!!

I dont have any advice sorry lili, im having problems with my son concerning brushing teeth too. The natural toothpaste and bath ball both sound like good ideas Ann, I think Im going to give them a try!

I'll be keeping track of this topic, Sharlet is the same. We give her a electric
toothbrush with no toothpaste to chew sometimes, and keep her diet low in
sugar.
But we will need to get her brushing properly soon.
Copyright Autism-PDD.net