Dentist

fiddy

my 4 year old son has autism and gets extremely distressed when brushing his teeth which has resulted in decaying he is getting extremely frustrated with the pain and is starting to lash out....... there is no way he is going to let a dentist look in his mouth

Blue Frog

Hi fiddy, poor little lad. Going to the dentist is scary enough when you do understand what they are for! I'm sure someone here who knows more about autism will be able to some advice - but have you asked for him to be referred to the special needs dentist? Most areas have one that specialises in disabilities and the one my brother sees is lovely - he is 6ft 1 and not at all happy about anyone seeing his teeth!!

Daniellesducks

I'm sure a worker in larger family clinic had info on a dentist who worked with family as well as child even went to see child in his home so he got used to him over several months. you may get lucky

Helen Disberry

My son is 6 with Downs Syndrome but was exactly the same. It was so stressful and frustrating, that the thought of taking him to the dentist actually made me feel nauseous!

I had him referred to a 'special needs' dentist which made no difference to my son's fear, but then we were referred to a special needs paediatric dentist, and BINGO!

They were kind, gentle, understanding and just amazing with my son. No pressure, no rush and I got the feeling that they'd wait all day until Leo was ready to trust them.

There was none of the usual hysteria; after about 20 minutes of getting to know him, the little monkey sat beautifully in the chair with an X-ray plate pressed against his cheek, while they moved an X-ray machine within millimetres of his face and took the pictures they needed. TWICE!! It almost made a liar out of me because I expected it to be the usual nightmare. These guys are very experienced and incredibly patient so my son never felt pressured or forced into anything at any point.

It's made a huge difference and although it's a hour further for me to drive, it's definitely the lesser of the evils as I don't have to see my son so distressed.

Good luck! :O)

leah118

Have u tried doing a book for him
My son is autistic and when we took him to the dentist for the first time he hated it he wouldn't do anything and bit the dentist, so the next time we made a book we printed out a picture of him eating breakfast then him brushing his teeth then we took pictures of the out side of the dentist, the dentist and his tools he was guna use then the chair and my son with his mouth wide open we laminated the pictures and gave it to my son so he can see the order of his day with the dentist in there and what he had to do all week he would open the book and c what he had to do and on the day he went strait in there sat down and opened his mouth he didn't get up set cos he new what he had to do and now we use these homemade books all the time

joet

There are many special needs dentists around that are nhs, take your son there even if they dont get to see his teeth it is exposing him to the dentist time after time that is the best help you could give him, eventually it will work