Dental Periodontic Disease and Autism

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Big deep breath ............I am having a problem folks, yes my teeth, front bottom ones to be precise. They are wobbling like you wouldn't believe, and now it looks like they have to come out BUT at what cost? Dentures? Ummm no been there done that and it don't work on ME! I am hypersensitive and can't stand any 'contraption' in my mouth. I get stomatitis a sore mouth under the palate which gets red and thrush like. Yuk, I couldn't bear it and wanted to die....not an exaggeration but a fact.

And how has the dentist treated me? With contempt like a naughty school girl.....ranting on and on about 'poor dental hygeine' ..........ok hands up, maybe I could have flossed more so fair comment BUT does anyone take GENETICS into consideration? And on top of that AUTISM??

As a researcher I have been keen to find the connection and yes there is one. I have been plagued by abscess all my life and I am now 51...to young for dentures!! Not one or two but probably 30 or so in my life ...many so bad that they ended up in extractions hence only 6 bottom teeth left...and now they are critical.

But have I EVER been to a periodontist or informed that I had periodontal disease? No never. Have I ever been on a dental hygeine plan? NO? Didn't know they even existed....so whose fault is it? Not completely mine that is for sure.

But I have been left between a rock and hard place. With important meetings ahead, an international conference and all sorts of talks and lectures.....how do I manage without teeth? How do I speak.....?

So the point of this thread is that as I have been working with soooo many families on the spectrum, it has struck me how many children have to have full clearances of baby teeth because they are rotton and the kids have been in agony with abscess. I found this pdf on the web and I thought it would be good to let you all know so you can maybe prevent ever having to go through what I am going through.

Here is the link. I hope it helps many of you. Please don't let the dentist bully you, fob you off or treat you just for the emergencies.....find out what is causing it and keep your teeth, you don't know how precious they are until you are in danger of losing them.

There are many methods that dentists should use with autistics so please pass the message on. We are all to aware of what the medical profession are and aren't doing but how many of us think about what the dental profession are or aren't doing?

Autism and Perio Website

I've had the luck to always have good dentists in my life - even if it hurted sometimes.

And you're right to put it forth: there are good dentists and there are bad ones.

I feel sorry for you: 51 is young to not have many teeth left.
Must be frightening to feel that the last ones are not steady anymore.

I don't know about the link to autism, but i do know genetics play a good role in our situation. I have an abscess (or two?) next to eachother. I also have a broken molar which most likely will have to be extracted. I don't have insurance or the $$ to get it taken care of (yet). My bf has bad teeth as well. Both my kids have fillings in all their molars as i did when i was young. My son (AS) went through a 2nd round of fillings on his molars (1st and 2nd round on baby teeth). Now i am told his baby teeth are late in coming out and that his perms are coming in crooked and not loosening the baby tooth. He's already had one pulled and will have 2-3 more pulled. He also may need braces soon. My daughter was 4 when she had her first dental visit and she had 9 cavaties! We brush morning and night and use fluoride rinse...could use more flossing, i know, but i am jealous of those who take this for granted and have perfect teeth w/ no cavaties.

A good pamphlet and a good message.

I think the reason the dentist scolds you is because if people follow their advice of brushing twice daily and flossing daily, 95% of them will have good oral health. They know that it's probably a lack of oral hygiene on your part that lead to your condition, and it frustrates them that their advice is ignored. They may not realize that maintaining proper oral hygiene may be challenging for autistic people.

If you couldn't stand a bridge, there is the option of implants. The implants would be just like normal teeth. There are options for you if you have the money.

I don't know if there would be a direct genetic link or not.. But i can see how executive functioning impairments could definitely affect how someone takes care of things like oral hygeine. I admit, there are a lot of things like that that i will forget to do for days, especially if i have a few days of just staying at home with no reason to "get ready" to go somewhere. I know a lot of autistic people probably have impeccable oral hygeine, the ones who are obsessive about their very exact morning routine and all. But then some of us can't even always remember to eat breakfast in the morning, and definitely not to floss every day.

And 51 isn't too horrible. My grandmother got dentures at 19.

thank you carzak. I think I will have this carved on my tombstone.

I don't buy the genetics line, but I can see how being autistic might discourage you from sticking with good habits. I don't mind brushing my teeth every day, but flossing is icky. I gotta force myself to do it regularly.

Maybe the dentist was a bit off on how he treated you, but he is looking out for your welfare by encouraging you to brush and floss regularly. A lot of diseases can be caused by poor dental hygiene.

Combating Tooth decay topic

Brush 2+ per day. also brush the tongue. My newest toothbrush has a rough part on the head for tongue brushing. It also has these rubber gum simulators (four prongs on each side of the brush head) to clean/stimulate the tops of the gums where the teeth and gums meet.

Floss 2+ times per day.

Use an antibacterial mouthwash at least once per day.

Avoid between meal snacks, except for fresh fruit or cheese.

Rinse mouth with water if toothbrush or floss not available. for instance if you are in a restaurant.

Get professional dental hygiene treatment twice per year. There are dental colleges that offer reduced rates. Students always welcome the practice.

Invest in an electric toothbrush. I will be buying one soon.

Maybe these tips can help save your remaining teeth, or help a person with all their teeth prolong tooth life.

Makes me feel like throwing up when I brush my tongue.

Strange you should mention tooth problems.......I'm currently about to have a wisdom tooth removed, and being right at the back, the dentist is scaring the life out of me, recommending Temezepam as well as a local anaesthetic. Apparently the Temezepam is to stop me from freaking out (seems to be a muscle relaxant and general anti-anxiety drug). And he reckons there's a 20% chance that the needle from the local anaesthetic will damage an adjacent nerve and leave me with a permanently numb lip. Ironically I'm in no pain from the wisdom tooth, so it's difficult emotionally to appreciate the need for such a traumatic operation.

Of course it's the kind of thing that could just as easily have happened to a neurotypical. I also recently broke 2 front teeth when my bike finally fell apart and threw me over the handlebars......I suppose the blame for that may be down to my Aspie aversion to renewing possessions (dislike of change) - the bike must be 25 years old at least. But essentially the accident could have happened to anybody.

The dentist also accused me of bruxism once, though strangely he never mentioned it again. I don't recall ever grinding my teeth, but it's quite likely - I'm always catching myself making rhythmic movements inside my mouth (and anywhere else that nobody's likely to notice)....sadly, stimming was a hanging offense as far as my mother was concerned so I guess I went underground.

I agree that dental health is very important, though I still can't be bothered to brush twice a day. A hygeinist once told me that if I really must miss out on one brushing, then it's best if it's the morning one.....I suppose the rationale is that we don't normally eat while we're sleeping, so there shouldn't be any sugar to clean off in the morning, as long as it was removed the night before. I appreciate the social realism of the advice, and wish the anti-smoking brigade were so laid back.

Another tip - apparently fructose (fruit sugar) is less harmful than sucrose, as the bacteria that cause most tooth decay can't metabolise it to the corrosive lactic acid.

It's amazing what they can do to fix teeth if they get to them before they're completely gone. I've had my two broken front teeth capped and they look and feel fine. Root fillings are also pretty effective - that's when they saw the tooth off, fill the root, and stick a (porcelain?) tooth on top. They seem stronger than the original teeth, and the result is so good that I have difficulty in telling which one of my teeth is root-filled.

I do try to floss and to use interdental brushes, but frankly I still find it difficult after years of practice, and I keep forgetting to bother until I'm due for a dental appointment. Strangely, the dentist doesn't seem to have noticed that I'm not following his advice particularly well. It's possible that my diet these days (mostly raw food) is doing some good there, giving my teeth some exercise. Also I chew a lot of nicotine gum which might be helping.

Smoking and drinking tea and coffee tend to stain teeth quite badly, and cigarette smoke is said to attack the teeth . My dentist recommended Earl Grey tea, and luckily I love the stuff, though it's not cheap and the decaffeinated variety costs even more.

Ultimately you have to draw a line somewhere between dental irresponsibility and "wrapping your teeth in cotton wool" (so to speak), and it's natural that dentists are somewhat biased towards the latter. It's the owner of the teeth that has to decide where the balance is. It's possible to get so obsessed with clean and healthy living that there's no fun left in life at all, though of course losing all your teeth isn't going to do a lot for your happiness.

Me too, and the further back I brush, the more I want to throw up. Even the thought of it makes me feel sick.

Hahahaha! I love it!

lol accused you? Dentists can tell from the marks on your teeth there's nothing else that causes these marks, you don't notice it happening because you do it during sleep. I said I thought I might be doing it to my dentist today and he said he could see the signs.
I brush twice daily these days and my teeth are getting worse all the time. Smoking is probably really bad for your teeth or gums at least.
I've heard more than one dentist say not to brush more than twice a day as it damages the enamel.