Autism and The Dentist

Alex is 9 years old and dental health has been quite challenging for him. When he was younger he hated for us to even brush his teeth. A lot of practice and at times - us having to almost hold him down and brush as quickly and thoroughly as we can in order to get his teeth clean. Going to the dentist was a whole different story. We finally have found a dentist that is very good with children with Autism, and children in general (she also is seeing Alex's little sister who required some more extensive dental work due to teeth crowding and some fixing some cavities and a chipped tooth from falling).

I decided it would be best for Alex's dad to take him to the dentist and try to make it as positive experience as possible. Both my husband and I were dreading this appointment but we also knew that since his behavior has improved and his communication is much better that it could go well. Plus, the dentist has video games in her waiting room. All we could do was hope for the best.

After 9 years we finally had a successful and positive trip to the dentist and we are on our way to establishing a good relationship between Alex and the dentist. The good news is no cavities of worth - he has one in a baby molar that according to X-rays will be falling out very soon. If it doesn't, the dentist will pull it but she didn't think it was necessary to go through the trauma of that since it is so close to falling out. He goes back in 6 months and in the meantime he is doing a much better job at brushing his own teeth. This is huge progress as dental sedation has been considered for him in the past just to get a good cleaning!

Things that have helped him include the Touch N Brush Hands Free Toothpaste Dispenser As Seen On TV and also using a battery powered Wall-E Spin Brush. For the longest time he has wanted to use the children's toothpastes that are quite sweet and they don't seem like they work all that well, to be honest - looking at the ingredients.. they are loaded with sugar. We are now making the switch to "adult" toothpaste and I started letting him use a mouth rinse as well. I was a bit surprised to learn that he knew how to use mouthwash already - he told me that his teacher showed him this at school (which I need to clarify as I am not sure this really happened or perhaps he could be thinking of when the dentist visited their class).

When Alex got back from the dentist his sister asked him "Did you scream at the dentist?". He responded quite proudly that indeed, he did NOT scream at the dentist. I was quite proud of him too. Since he missed school that day and didn't have a daily log sheet to fill out I asked him write about his day and he did..

Today I Wake Up at 7:30 AM. For Breakfast I Ate Cereal. Take to Bus 117. I Went
Home at 12:00 PM. Daddy Took Me To the dentist. I Played Pac-Man. The Dentist
brush your Teeth, Take Pictures of Teeth and Count your Teeth. The Dentist Gave
me Toothbrush (Orange and Green) our prize snake (Green). Mommy Made Chicken and Gluten Free Spaghetti and Apple Sauce. I Played Computer with Daddy. Alex was a Good Boy. Alex didn’t Scream at the dentist. I Petted Happy. And I Petted my cat stimpy Too.

Review of the Touch N Brush