Re: Teeth brushing

[Guest guest]

Hi --

My 11 y.o. daughter also has issues with her teeth brushing. Rather than

contamination issues, however, she just detests the sound of the bristles

against

teeth. She can't stand being around anyone else brushing their teeth either

(this started about 2 mos. ago). What's worked for us is giving her a clean

washcloth to use to rub her teeth with. In addition, she must floss and use

ACT flouride rinse (per the dentist).

We kind of pick and choose our battles at this point because she has a lot of

depression. The pdoc doesn't want to press working on the OCD again until

the depression is under control -- in the meantime, we can't let her teeth rot!

Good luck.

Suzanne in CA (, 11, on Zoloft, Seroquel, Busbar)

[Guest guest]

I have a younger son not diagnosed with anything but most likely has

sensory integration dysfunction. I am not worrying about it as he

seems to be growing out of it and it is manageable.

However, I have had problems forever with brushing his teeth. He

hates having anything in his mouth. He cries unrelentingly. He is 4

1/2 and I battled every day to brush his teeth until I found out

there are 2 types of SID.

One type is the touch and stimulation avoidance type. There is

another not as well known where stimulation is actually sought out.

When I had his OT assessment done (often where this is diagnosed) I

noticed that while he hated holding a pencil, when she gave him a

vibrating one, he wouldn't give it up. So I went out and bought an

electric toothbrush. He loves it. He still doesn't like getting his

teeth brushed but he tolerates it. No more battles.

For the child with the gag reflex problem, there is another option.

I don't know how much money you have or what kind of benefits but

there is a sonic tooth brush. This is the only one that you don't

actually have to brush with. You just hold it against your teeth and

it vibrates at such a high frequency (like the thing jewelers use to

clean rings) that your teeth get even cleaner than if you brushed

them by hand. You need much less toothpaste also. You can get them

at WalMart. It is called Sonicare by . My dentist thinks I

floss now. I would imagine that even without toothpaste, it would

work somewhat.

And for contamination, also at WalMart or big pharmacies, you can get

a tablet to sterilize toothbrushes. How do you judge when you are

aiding their OCD though? Obviously there are a lot of people who

worry about toothbrush germs (and they truly are exceptionally germy -

scientifically proven) so is it really so unfounded? Ask her to be

responsible for cleaning it herself. Sometimes a middle ground is

better for everyone or at least until after Christmas.