ASD and dentistry

[maybeCornish]

Any advice on how to approach a filling and possible extraction situation with an ASD child?

DS is very scared of pain and injections. We have tried doing a filling using sedation but he tried to run away and was very frightened. Basically he said he could see and hear everything and something pulling in his mouth. He had sensory overload. The dentist was very patient but we could not make it work.

DS says that he wants to be put to sleep as he doesn't want to know what is going on. Is this possible? I have been told by our dental practice that it's illegal to put children to sleep for dental work. I don't know what to do and I'm nervous that the temporary packing that the dentist managed to do will fall out and he will need a proper filling/root canal work or tooth extraction. His diet is limited with spicy and sweet stuff and it's a battle to get him to brush his teeth.

If you are in the U.K. your dentist can refer to the community dental service who can try sedation again and , if necessary, treatment under general anaesthetic .

Unfortunately waiting lists are quite long so you need to get referral done asap.

Your son needs to be using a high fluoride toothpaste , if they can tolerate , and you need to limit the number of times a day they are eating or drinking anything sweet. If you eat or drink something sweet more than three times a day you will get decay . So what they eat eat and drink at meal times is not a problem it's what they eat and drink inbetween times.

You need to make sure he doesn't eat or drink anything sweet just before bedtime or at night, even if he brushes his teeth afterwards.

You might want to try Oranurse toothpaste which is non foaming and non flavoured which some people with ASD find more tolerable. You might also find these toothbrushes useful if they won't brush for long https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Barmans-Superbrush-Regular-Adult-Toothbrush/dp/B002841THY/ref=asc_df_B002841THY/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=372422564302&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11654927832188049654&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046499&hvtargid=pla-338004502779&mcid=37a471d0de1839dc883e41d59d76231a&th=1&ref=&adgrpid=77250727380

The dentist is lying to you. DC (and adults) can be given a general anaesthetic for dental work. They could also try a different form of sedation that is more heavy duty. Request a referral to the special care community dental service. Unfortunately, there will be a wait for this but some have urgent lists.

Even without the additional needs some DC are given sedation or a GA for dental work. Some via the community dental service and others via a general hospital.

Thank you all. yes we are in the UK. I knew that what the dentist was saying didn't sound right, glad I could check it out. I just want them to refer us to community dentistry who will work with us on solutions. Unfortunately DS is now very scared of the dentist and finds it too sensory to tolerate anything but a cursory check up when fully conscious. Sedation would have to be pretty heavy duty to keep him calm and compliant. he is now suspicious of sedation because it hasn't worked before.

He has a limited list of safe foods (a lot of foods make him anxious) so his diet is terrible but difficult to break him out of the habit. I work on the teeth brushing everyday but it's rare that he will do it so his teeth are deteriorating. Logic would mean that if he looks after his teeth then he won't need to see the dentist so much, which he dislikes, but logic and DS don't seem to go together!

In some areas, you can self refer to the community dental service or the GP/other HCP can. This is what the special care community dental service does all the time.

DS1&3 are under them and they are brilliant. DS1 is yet to sit in the chair and nothing goes in his mouth. Any work he has needed is done whilst he is under GA for other reasons and if nothing needs doing they try to arrange an examination and clean anyway.

Thank you so much for this. We need a dentist or GP referral in our area, we cannot self refer. Funnily enough I have checked the website and it mentions GA for some dentistry cases. I may print it out and drop it off at the dentist practice on my way to work tomorrow!

I have booked him in for a check up in a couple of weeks so I can get the referral actioned, they won't do it based on the last check up in January.