Experiences of autistic teens having braces, please

[ASDBraces]

My son has ASD and has been referred to the orthodontist for braces. I'm anticipating he would find it hard to tolerate the sensation and discomforting. He also finds general self care routines hard eg remembering to brush teeth, but gets angry if I interfere as he wants to be independent.

This seems like a doomed situation to me but what are others' experiences? And any advice for avoiding negative feelings on wonky teeth if he decides not to / is unable to go ahead?

Watching OP as ds9 is going to need braces. I can’t imagine how it will work!

Watching with interest as DS1 (not ASD, complex SEN that can sometimes present similarly) has just been referred. We and the special care community dental team have no idea whether he will cope or not, but we have to try. It’s a long waiting list so we can always withdraw when DS1 reaches the top if he won’t cope then.

I have considered if he would cope better with Invisalign, too. I’m not sure.

Hopefully someone will have some ideas for us!
DS does seem committed to having them, but needs some teeth removed first to make room for others that are out of line. I worry if he has the extractions done then doesn't cope with the braces... will he have massive gaps? All quite worrying.

Ds goes to a typical dentist and is pretty good with his check-ups, but I can’t imagine him having any actual work done without anaesthetic, let alone the ongoing discomfort of braces. Trying not to think about it…

DS1 also needs teeth removing beforehand, a couple of which would be removed even without braces due to his overcrowding. He has complex medical needs so they will do those when he is next under GA for his medical needs.

I asked the same question about gaps. The special care dentist told me the gaps wouldn’t remain large because DS1’s mouth is overcrowded at the moment and he is still growing so over time the gaps would naturally close somewhat but obviously not with the same alignment as braces would give. I was told any gaps that did remain wouldn’t cause problems and cosmetically would be less prominent in comparison to his overcrowding. I don’t know whether it would be different for your DS.

This is interesting. My DS (13) is having the exact same issues with his teeth. He also has ASD. We saw a consultant recently to go through options. The options we've been given are a) do nothing b) remove some of the teeth to free up some space c) removal and then braces.

The consultant asked if my DS was bothered by his teeth and at the moment he's not. (The overcrowding is very noticeable and severe.) While he may not be bothered at 13 - he may be at 15/16 though so it's a difficult call.

The consultant said that DS is eligible for free NHS treatment up to 19 (provided he's still in education) so there is the option to wait a bit. However, extraction is apparently easier the younger they are as the bones haven't fully hardened.

I also asked about the gaps after extraction if we didn't brace and the consultant said the teeth would move naturally to fill in the gaps a bit so there would be some cosmetic improvement.

My DS has huge sensory issues though (it took us years to even get a toothbrush in his mouth) so I can't see how he's going to tolerate braces. His special care dental team told me that rarely brace kids with ASD for these reasons. Braces also rely on a fair bit on patient compliance so again I wondered if we should leave it until my DS is on board and can understand the end benefit.

Toomanyminifigs if we go ahead with braces it would be for dental health reasons rather than cosmetic. For us, with DS1’s complex needs the distress wouldn’t be worth it for cosmetic reasons.

Autistic Ds had braces for two years. Had them off in October last year. Should be wearing a retainer full time at the moment. But is refusing, so we have agreed to night time retainer use only

Ds did not have his autism diagnosis when initially referred and much of his treatment was in lockdowns. But we got through it.

Ds's treatment was NHS, for health reasons, not cosmetic. But it has improved the look if his teeth too.
I won't lie when the first set was put on it was pretty horrendous. He couldn't cope, wanted to pull the braces off and was hurting himself and totally dysregulated.....but it did get better. By the time the lower set went on there where still issues but not as intense. And he managed most of the adjustments. He can struggle with cleaning, so we paid for quite a few hygienist appointments. Hygienist was great and understood Ds's needs and was as gentle as possible.
The complications for Ds were that he has ARFID and was also on strong medication at the time that dried his mouth out. But he did get though it, despite really significant sensory processing issues.

What I will say is that retainer use is strongly recommend after braces come off, as teeth can more back again. So it can still feel a battle at times, even when treatment has finished.