Dentist & tooth brushing woes... | Autism PDD
Jen78fl --
Your son might have "oral defensiveness" like my son. It was hard brushing his teeth at 3 years old, but it does get better. He still doesn't like it but he cooperates because he understands the importance of it.
This is what helped us:
- low foam toothpaste in a flavor he likes.
- let him spit out saliva and toothpaste frequently, not just at the end.
- use a rubber-padded toothbrush or a toothbrush with 3 sides. Click here to see what I mean: http://www.dentist.net/benedent-benefit-kids.asp
- give him control. When he taps on my wrist we take a break.
I've also heard of someone who bought a couple Halloween masks, and put them on herself while she brushed her kid's teeth. The child got to decide if "spiderman" or "elmo" was going to brush his teeth each night.
Good luck with everything.
wow... Norway mom you are a fantastic resource!
My son likes to brush his teeth. He actually requests it! I barely put any toothpaste, basically just tap the bristles to the toothpaste. He likes a strong tasting toothpaste - herbal mint by crest. and we sing and dance, "brusha, brusha teeth...do do do do do do , busha brusha teeth....etc. and sometimes his 2 1/2 year old sister will brush his teeth as he lays down on the couch, and he giggles.
Maybe too the environment... Because there is barely any toothpaste to spit out. I let them watch TV while they do it. Maybe that's what helps?
He didn't mind the dentist the second time (first time he was a bit stressed), he ran to the back of the office found the right room and climbed up on the chair , turned on the tv and layed down... the dentist was in shock!
Thanks everyone.. Norwaymom, that toothbrush you showed me looks really neat.. Did you buy one from that website?Jen78fl --
I live in Norway, and I buy a similar toothbrush at the drugstore in town. You might find a three-sided brush at a well-stocked drugstore near you.
I am having a hard time with this too. Alot of the time my son wont even open his mouth to let me brush his teeth.. So, he doesnt always get his teeth brushed.. This is probably going to result in cavities.. and I havent even taken him to the dentist yet.. Thats not going to be fun either.. I am definitely open to all suggestions!Great ASA website, thanks for sharing. It is fairly limited at this point,
hopefully more states & cities will be added.
I'm getting more nervous!!!
Aside from the toothbrush battle each a.m.
& p.m., she has other dental issues due to her gtube & poor diet, but also
she has these major fangs, that ST thinks may need to be filed. She literally
cannot make her front teeth (top & bottom) meet. So it affects her bite, &
her speech too. Plus, she breaks skin very easily when she bites people (yes,
something we're working on...and yes, a statement I could only make here &
still feel comfortable!!). Wish us LUCK, and I really hope for NO cavities.
Parents of typical children here are encouraged to let their kids brush their own teeth in the morning, and the parents brush at night. They also recommend supervising your child's brushing until age 10.
Since my son is far from typical, I don't feel bad about brushing his teeth for him still at age 9. I let him brush his own teeth with a spin brush, since he seems a little too uncoordinated to get the right pressure and technique with a manual brush.
But after he uses the spin brush, I give his teeth the once over for safety sake, since he has weak teeth. The weakness was caused by:
- too much drinkable yogurt (recommended by the community health nurse for his lactose intolerance),
- his oral defensiveness that caused major problems brushing before age 3-1/2,
- and genetics (unusually deep crevices in his molars).
My daughter loves the toothbrush. She used to try to carry it around with her. She still does not get them very clean. I always rebrush them. She has 4 adult teeth so far. I have not took her to the denist bec. I don't think she'll handle the noise. I'm going to take her in sometime for her first cleaning.
Ah, you are a tooth brushing magician!
My son's dentist hasn't done anything other than "look" so far!
But there is hope. Suddenly, out of NOWHERE, my son loves an electric
toothbrush! I swear... really. SHOCKER OF THE YEAR.
Good luck with your visit
Thanks for sharing those links!
I especially liked www.colgate.com's "Cool Moves" -- kid-friendly videos of how to brush and floss. Could be used like a video social story. They also had a poster for keeping track of when the child brushed.
Here's my list of dental health resources (ignore the yellow highlighting):
http://www.ada.org/public/games/index.asp - Kid stuff from the ADA (this site was listed under your Education World link)
http://www.mouthpower.org/mouthpower.cfm - more kid stuff
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1064&a=7844 - article from the National Autistic Society
Social stories:
http://www.fraser.org/products/CDs.html - sample video from My Healthy Smile
http://dentistry.about.com/od/childrensdentistry/ig/Dentist- Appointment-Photos/index.htm - photo gallery of dentist pictures, with captions rather than social story text.
http://www.educ.ttu.edu/EDSP/burkhartproject/ModuleThree/Dif ferent_Approaches/Social_Stories.htm - about teeth brushing
http://www.curearchives.com/Advice-needed.t3060-8.html - brushing teeth
http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/autistic/Social%20Stories/Pages/br ushing_my_teeth.htm - brushing teeth
http://www.polyxo.com/socialstories/ss0005.html - brushing teeth
http://www.slatersoftware.com/BrushingTeethSocialStory.pdf - brushing teeth, with PECS symbols.
http://www.jambav.com/modules/makale/makale.php?id=6 - dentist
To access the story, go to the above webpage and click on "Ready for our stories?" at the bottom of the page.
You should then see an image of 3 bookshelves. Click on the title you want, and its image will show up on the bottom shelf. Click on that image to start the story.
You can get back to the bookshelves at any time by clicking on the menu tab, and then choosing "Select."
Our dd has a dentist appt next week. I've put it way off (last visit was a
year ago...bad mom!). I am hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
Wish us luck. Anyway, from here & some other resources, I am doing a
few things this & the last few weeks to hopefully help dd. Thought if
anyone else is having issues w/ dentist visits and/or brushing teeth,
these may help:
*Pinatta's View dvd, "A Trip to the Dentist"
*Going to the Dentist from
www.autismshopper.com (PECS book)
*Dora book about going to the dentist
I also found some coloring pages online, some with Garfield, teeth, & one
of a dentist for dd to color (sorta!) on.
Education
World, has some good links. Check out Colgate's Bright Smiles
Bright Futures page--I printed out 2 posters, there's online games, color
pages, stories, etc. I found these projects & songs/rhymes below on
some teaching websites as well. You can use old toothbrushes for find
I don't know if any of this will help you, or will help my dd (major
screaming w/ toothbrushing continues...), but figured it's worth a shot!
Make Your Own Toothbrushes
Submitted by Mindy
What You Need:
0. Paper
0. Markers/Crayons
0. Any Other Art Supplies You Choose
What You Do:
0. Make a giant toothbrush from white paper for each of your children.
Then let your children design their own toothbrush with toothbrushes in a
variety of colors and extras.
Clean Your Teeth
Submitted by Carla
What You Need:
0. Yellow Paper
0. Paint
0. Toothbrushes
What You Do:
0. Draw a tooth shape onto a yellow piece of paper or manila folder.
Let your children paint with toothbrushes and white paint on the paper to
clean the teeth.
Dental Floss Painting
Submitted by an Unknown Friend
What You Need:
0. Paint, Dental Floss, Paper
What You Do:
0. Cut out large teeth out of poster board or construction paper. Let
your children string paint with the dental floss
Dentist Collage
Submitted by Torrie
What You Need:
0. Paint
0. Dentist Supplies (Cotton Balls, toothpaste, floxx, gauze, etc.)
0. Paper
0. Magazine Clippings (of dentist, teeth, and supplies)
What You Do:
Give the children the supplies and let them create their own dentist
collage
Another one...
Cut a tooth shape (big) out of white paper, laminate. Then w/ washable
or dry-erase markers, make stains on the tooth. Have children clean the
stains off w/ a toothbrush.
Toothbrush Rhyme
Submitted on the Comment Boxl
Up like a rocket, down like the rain
Back and forth like a choo-choo train
Teacher says rhyme as children move toothbrush up then down the front
teeth and teeth on the side. Back and forth is done on tops of teeth.
Children open mouth place tooth brush on tops of teeth (refer to these as
the train tracks) don't forget to have children turn toothbrush over and do
the upper tracks too.
We then brush the hill between the tracks (The tongue)
Brush our Teeth
Submitted by an Unknown User
This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth, so early in the morning.
Brush them up and brush them down, in little circles or round and round
Don't brush them from side to side, for those sugar bugs will surely hide
Brush your Teeth (sung to Row, Row, Row your Boat)
Brush, brush, brush your teeth
At least two times a day
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning
Fighting tooth decay!
Brush your Teeth (sung to Row, Row, Row your Boat)
Brush, brush, brush your teeth.
Brush them everyday.
Up and down, and round and round.
Scrub the germs away
I thought I'd add that the ASA has a searchable database of autism-related services, with dentists as one search criteria option. I did a spot check and found zero hits for Minnesota, 13 for California, and 14 for Texas. Hopefully they'll add more later, but at least some people might get lucky and find a presumably autism-friendly dentist through this list.
I had such a hard time with Adam when he was younger that I could not literally get anything in his mouth to get them clean. Well last year he had most of his teeth capped and root canals done. I think they worked on 15 teeth? Anyway. He had just started letting me get in his mouth when we went to the dentist and of course to get all that work done they put him to sleep. He brushes his own teeth now. I stand by him and give him directions because if left up to him completely he will only spend 5 seconds brushing. LOL
Karrie
I use to lay my son down with my husband holding him to brush his teeth when he wouldn't let me do it.Now we have established a nice morning and night routine. He still stalls as much as he can put once I get him on the stool by the sink, he opens and lets me do my thing.
I still haven't taken him to the dentist, that is the next thing on my list.
Good luck with your visit, I wish you best and know how you feel about expecting the worst.
BTW, does anyones children brush on their own yet?
Copyright Autism-PDD.net