Visiting the dentist

[hanbee]

Hiya

Just wondered if any of you have tips on visiting the dentist? Had a first unsuccessful trip this week with DS1, 3.5 with development delay. Dentist was v stand-offish and didn't even speak to him. Unsurprisingly he wouldn't even let her look at him teeth and screamed the place down.

Should I just try again in 6 months or try a different dentist?

Grateful for any thoughts and advice

Han x

I'd try a different dentist. I had the same problem with ds2 ( suspected autism) who is a refuser of almost everything. He wouldn't open his mouth and that was it. A friend recommended a different dentist and there it worked. Ds2 still refused but the dentist was great and had a few trucks up her sleeve - and lots of patience lol - and eventually she managed to at least check his teeth. Am dreading the day when work needs to be done though! Good luck!

Yes try a different dentist. My parent partnership person told me about a sn dentist that we could get referred to so there's no waiting time - maybe there is something like that? We use our usual dentist though as they are very good.

We had problems with the local special needs dentist as they were not willing to work on desensitization to procedures etc. So we used our own private dentist who has been wonderful. We also got appropriate equipment, such as the training dvd and mouth props shipped in from Specialized Care Co.,Inc in the USA.

I'm another one who says go for the different dentist.

My DD goes to the community dental service, where she has regular appointments with both the dentist and the hygienist.

They are very understanding, and will try and fit what they need to do, around how much she can stand.

She needed an x-ray, but they only managed to do part of her mouth, as she freaked out. They just shrugged and managed with what they had. They are both great at explaining what they are doing, and letting her feel all the instruments on the back of her hand before anything goes near the mouth.

She has been going for 7 years now, and has a good realtionship with both the dentist and hygienist, so much so that I can stay in the waiting room.

Yes our private dentist has been great

There should be a Community Dental service run by your PCT who specialise in dealing with "difficult" patients - which may be as a result of a disability or even a phobia. However, I don't think you can self refer - referral usually has to be by another health professional. Have a look at your PCT website, which should have more info.
Having said that, my DS (HFA) has always gone to the same private dentist that we use (although she does him on NHS thank goodness). SHe has always been excellent with him, taking great care to allow him time to get used to the equipment by letting him feel it on his hand, and then in his mouth but without her actually carrying out the treatment until he is ready. She actually managed to do a filling on one of his back teeth without an injection (his choice) and he was smiling when he got out of the chair!!! So I really believe it is down to just finding the right dentist - someone who is patient and caring enough to be bothered about treating your child.

Our GP made a referral (at my request) to the Community Dental Service and, a few months on, we've just had our first appointment. My son (6 yrs old, ASD) was not very co-operative but she took some time cajoling him and glimpsing his teeth and recorded what he's got and was able to determine that there seems to be no major problems in there. She's got us back in just over a fortnight to try and get him de-sensitised to the situation so I'd have to say a very good service. They also had some brilliant toothbrushes there which brush from three sides simultaneously! I invested in a couple of those

4nomore I'm glad your experience is good. The best thing for DD (and me) has been the fact that she sees the hygienist as well, as her co-ordination difficulties make it very hard for her to brush her teeth properly and I find it very difficult to do it for her.

She is now 12 and is really needing braces, but we have agreed that we should wait another year and see how best to do this.

I actually can't remember being referred. When she was pre-school, there was a distinct lack of dentists in our area, and all young people under 16 can access the community dentists.

I think at her first appointment I explained her difficulties (she was undiagnosed at that age) and they just adapted their practice to suit her.

The only time we've needed to go elsewhere was when she needed a couple of fillings, and we knew she wouldn't cope with injection and the noises of the drills, so we agreed on a GA where they did the fillings and removed some of her stubborn baby teeth in one go. That seemed to be the best option

Thanks for all your thoughts. I'm going to ring our local parent partnership and se if they have anyone to recommend. If not I will just request another dentist at our practice and see how it goes (only other dentists local to us have a year waiting list or are hugely expensive).