A Small Step

One of Adam's sensory issues is sensitivity in his mouth. Because of this, I can't brush his teeth without a fight. A fight that I'm usually (barely) winning only by brute force. When I brush Adam's teeth, we look like professional wrestlers... or maybe just a giant pretzel. It' s not a fun experience for either of us. A dentist suggested getting an electric toothbrush, so I did. Adam calls it 'Mommy's Scary Toothbrush.' He is more than happy to hold it and brush Mommy's teeth, but that thing is Scary Toothbrush and it gets less clearance to his mouth than the regular toothbrush does. The result of all this is Adam doesn't get his teeth brushed very often. I don't readily admit to it often, but I don't feel too badly either.

However, I am always trying to find a way to make it easier. I think we've had a breakthrough recently!

We have some of those floss picks, so I decided if I can't get the teeth themselves clean, I can at least try to clean between the teeth. When I cut Adam's nails, I tell him we're clicking them. He enjoys calling out 'click!' every time I click the nail clippers. I decided to try this method with the floss. I showed Adam the floss pick and told him I was going to click his teeth. I expected a small struggle, but he giggled and opened his mouth. I clicked and made a big production of being grossed out by the plaque that was on the floss. He thought it was great! He wanted to see the 'yuck' after every click.

After we finished with the floss, I got out a finger toothbrush that I've had since his older brother was a baby. I showed Adam how it would go on my finger and rubbed it on his hand so he could get an idea of how soft it was. I offered him to put his finger in it, but he didn't like the idea. He was fine with me using it for him. He watched me put some of the kid toothpaste (Crest Kids) on the brush and then he flipped out. It seems that the flavor of the toothpaste has been part of our dental battles. I'm not fully convinced that toothpaste is truly a necessity, so I had no problem washing the toothpaste off. Once the toothpaste was out of the way, he was mor than cooperative in opening his mouth to brush! He giggled through the brushing - a softer brush doesn't change his mouth's sensitivity - but he wasn't fighting me. He was quickly approaching sensory saturation at the end but was willing to let me brush the last surface area before a treat of rubbing his tongue with the brush.

I think we have a ritual that works. Click the teeth and show the yuck. Finger toothbrush with no paste. Tickle the tongue now and then. Now to figure out a way to drag him off the electronics so we can be more regular with brushing, without meltdowns on the way. It won't matter how cooperative he can be to brush teeth if he's having a meltdown on the way there.