Teeth brushing nightmare

Post Reply New Topic

I let go of brushing teeth for my son. Other than reminding him to do it, it's up to him to get it done. Hands off approach actually worked for him. He learned that if he didn't do a good job, then the 6-month cleaning at the dentist's would involve a lot of scraping. He has steadily improved and now the 6-month cleanings are a piece of cake.

He's 9 and has fine motor delays, but he can do it. I got him an electric tooth brush and he just needs to move it around his mouth. No back-n-forth motion required.

We used to have this problem. I don't know if it was a sensory thing or what, but our Occupational Therapist helped out. We got a Spiderman electric toothbrush with Spiderman toothpaste. We turned brushing teeth into a game. When he got more independent, we went over the routine with him and showed him how to brush properly. We bought him the book, "How Many Teeth" and the Scholastic DVD, "Open Wide, Tooth Inside." Those helepd a lot. Made it more fun.

Now, he brushes his own teeth. Rinses. Spits. Done. Try the electric toothbrush. Some even have music to them, but that's a bit much.

I have a high gag reflex, and brushing my teeth can sometimes be an unpleasant experience. Yet the consequences of not brushing would be much worse. Fortunately, I have good teeth.

9catmom i have the same gag problem.
I hold my head over the sink, mouth pointed down.
it drips out, instead of down the throat. that seems to work for me.

Flossing is also an issue for my evil boy.

A idea that worked wonders for us, was to get the little plastic tooth picks with floss on them.
We get them at the drug store.

It makes flossing easy, and as he tends to chew as a stim, it serves a dual purpose.

The only way I can brush my 4yr olds teeth is by restraining him and holding him in a headlock. If I was to do this on an ongoing basis I would terrify him of brushing for life. With toilet training I had to completely back off and he did it when he was ready - everytime I tried to force the issue he would reward me by squashing poo into the carpet under the wheels of one of his cars... YUK!

I was hoping I may be able to explain to him about rotten teeth and coax him into brushing the teeth by now but his language (whilst dramatically improved) is still not there.

It worries me and I feel guilty - I might try the electric musical tooth brush - only other problem I have with tooth brushes is he finds other uses for them and takes them (I just found the latest one in the garden bed). For a kid who has only brushed his teeth a couple of times (through force) he must have been through a ridiculous number of tooth brushes.

Annette

My son has an extreme aversion to anything Mint.
He cannot even be in the same bathroom if someone else is brushing with mint toothpaste.
Just the smell will literally make him turn green and gag.

Since I have always know he doesn't like mint, I carefully help him choose a toothpaste that he will like. My only requirement is that it has fluoride. Maybe have your son choose TWO different kinds of toothpaste.

We have always used electric toothbrushes. In the past, he has always been able to pick out a really cool character toothbrush -- one that you throw away after a few months. This kept him interested. Now we have a regular Braun toothbrush that we can replace the brush heads.

And I am so lucky that he actually flosses his teeth. I have done this since he was very little and I never made a huge fuss about it.

My 5 yr old son has poor motor skills so it's almost impossible for him to brush effectively; he needs to use an electric tooth brush if he's going to do it himself (fortunately he let us brush him but only reluctantly). Getting him to use an electric tooth brush was difficult as he hated the noise and the vibration.

What we did was purchase a cheap electric tooth brush from the dollar store. First we'd turn it on near by until he got used to the noise. Then he started by brushing the teeth of toys. To get him used to the vibration, he started by brushing his finger nails, then days later we worked up to the outside of his cheek, then more days later he'd brush his lips. Finally after a couple of days of this, he stuck it in his mouth and started brushing on his own.

Now he willingly flosses and brushes on his own, albeit we still help him to make sure his teeth are adequately cleaned. We follow up with a 30 second rinse of ACT mouthwash which was highly recommended by his dentist.

If your child doesn't brush because he hates the toothpaste flavor, you can do without if necessary since it's the mechanical action of brushing that does the most good. Just make sure he get fluoride from a mouthwash or fluoridated water.

After many a battle of not brushing teeth I've started a "mommy does it every other night" kind of thing. Found out that he was just going in and knocking his toothpaste into the sink and putting water on his brush afterward.

Funny that everyone is mentioning those tablets, the threat of making him chew one of those has been enough to frighten him into actually brushing.

He's afraid that it will taste nasty and that it will permanently turn his teeth red, though I have explained the purpose to him. The idea grosses him out enough that he makes somewhat of an effort. A double swipe across his front teeth is normally what he tries to get away with, but he does a little better after he gets sent back in.

We don't use toothpaste. I haven't used any in years. Just cold water.

And my 9 year old brushes his teeth. Sometimes I check that he's doing it right, and for long enough. They seem to be alright.

I haven't been to the dentist since I was 19 years old, ( 26 years ago ! ), and my son has never gone. We only have juice and/or fruit for breakfast, nothing that will produce acid "ash"/residue on absorption, and this gives the body plenty of time, in a non-acid state, ( when it can transport calcium to bones and teeth rather than away from them to neutralise acid ), for teeth repair/growth.

Teeth are alive. The body can repair any but the most decayed, given enough metabolic "peace".

The only reason I would take my son to a dentist is for a brace, ( his top two front teeth are very "apart" ), and perhaps for excrutiating pain. I "heal" occasional twinges in my own by watching my diet, ( more raw veg and fruit, less acid-forming foods like meat, cheese, and carbos, incl. sugar obviously ).

Raw garlic is good against abcesses and infections, not that I have had any, but my son's father did before he tried eating only fruit at breakfast for a couple of years, though he has since then slid back into old habits, and one of his molars fell out a couple of months ago. He uses toothpaste.

My son has never had toothache.

I am more worried about gum disease myself, and have convinced him to brush his gums as much as his teeth, ( without toothpaste, which I agree is disgusting stuff ).

.

Ooooh, this is a fast growing thread!

I'm going to have to take my son to the dentist tomorrow morning to see if we can get an emergency appointment. We have appointments already made for the end of the month, but he's increasing complaining of toothache. The school phoned me about it on Friday.

My son is convinced that he can brush his teeth properly, and sometimes he can, but most of the time he just seems to chew and suck the toothpaste off the brush. He can't stand mint toothpaste either - that seems to be common - so we stick to the fruit-flavoured ones. He also uses mouthwash, but doesn't like the taste of the last one I bought for him.

He liked electric toothbrushes, but ruins the brush head really quickly by chewing it. I'll check out the Braun one that someone else mentioned, with the replaceable heads.

I'm not looking forward to the visit to the dentist. My son is squealing already, just at the thought of it, and he was extremely distressed the last time he was there - so much so that the dentist had to give up trying to treat him. That time he had abscesses and the dentist was going to extract two baby teeth below the abscesses, but couldn't get him to stay still or stop grabbing his hand as he tried to give him an injection. The dentist gave up for the sake of his own nerves, as much as for my son's.

If any work is needed then I strongly suspect that our own dentist, who is very good, will have to refer him elsewhere so he can be sedated.

Bump.

I found this thread on a search for ideas on how to brush my sons teeth (3.5yrs) without WW3.
Just doesn't seem there's a way to make it go easily damn it!

Brushing teeth was sure hell for me as a kid because the tooth paste burned my mouth, lips and tounge. I tried to tell my mum but she insisted I deal with it but I would fight and scream until she started letting me use the kind for toddlers and little kids. I later learned that anything mint flavored makes me feel nacious. I refuse to use anything but Tom's of Maine toothpaste as an adult. They even make an orange flavored toothpaste which dosen't make me sick. I ran out of it once and had to brush my teeth with Dial hand soap. My parents are always complaning about my "sailor mouth" so perhaps it was a good thing. LOL The dial didn't burn or sting half as much as toothpaste, if not at all. We once played a cruel joke on my dad and tricked him into using toothpaste intended for dogs. He said it tasted odd. I wonder if using pet toothpaste would burn as much as the kind intended for people.

Kid's Crest gel with sparkles tastes like sugar candy instead of mint. It is helping with some recent push back we have gotten from our 8 yo DS.

I know he brushes longer with it than the mint flavors that he can't stand now. Too bad they don't provide taste samples.

I would at least recommend Listerine Advanced mouthwash.