Dentist & ?ASD

[EineKleine]

DS is being assessed for Autism, and he is 8. Very high functioning, great eye contact, all his teachers said he couldn't possibly be on the spectrum until Y3.

He had an incident at the dentist's 3 years ago. The dentist put that fluoride stuff on his molars without him understanding what was happening. He came out ok but totally freaked out about 5 mins later - he seemed to be in extreme pain, which I think was the strong taste of the stuff.

He is adamant that after that, he could taste the coating for 2 weeks. I think he is probably misremembering but I can't persuade him otherwise, and I can't even promise it will go away quickly because I don't actually know if it will.

I played it cool and didn't mention it for a couple of years. Last time I asked him but didn't push it. He has an appt next week and he's just got v upset when I mentioned about trying the coating again. I'm not sure what I'm asking here really, I'm just not sure how to play it. How important is the coating, is it worth pushing? Does anyone have similar experience?

I am sure the dentist thinks I am being a complete sap.

Thanks very much Poltergoose. The feel of it hadn't occurred to me, that's useful to know.

Thank you zzzzz, I will ask about that. We were wondering if he could have tablets or something instead.

Melon?! How very random.

I'm not autistic but I hated the one that you are supposed to repeat every few months and only had it once. It made my teeth feel sort of dry and tacky. My DS who has autism (Asperger's) and dyspraxia plus some sensory problems has just had the UV activated one with no real bother.

Also, does his dentist understand his condition? Although I always put them on his medical form it was only when we started discussing braces recently (before the coatings) that I explained in more detail. And although the dentist had always been ok with him before, he really stepped up at the next appointment, taking things more slowly, explaining in more detail, letting DS see the tools etc. I always ask if DS can have a disposable glove to fiddle with in the chair, that helps too.

We haven't mentioned ASD to the dentist, no. I feel a bit of a fraud mentioning it without a diagnosis. I'm half expecting the assessment to conclude that of course he's NT and we are just bad parents.

I have mentioned it when we needed at swimming and another activity and it has been really helpful. Maybe I just need to get over myself!