help advice needed re:- dentist

[bambi06]

my son (asd)has been trying(or at least ive tried to get him to!)to go to the dentist just to get him used to it and were very fortunate in that we have a special needs dentist to go to that will take as long as it takes..which is going to be a VERY long time by the looks of it.. we ve had about 5 sessions but things are going very slowly.. first time we just about got in side the door amid screams and clinging onto gate..doorpost and anything else he could get his hands on then when we got in the reception he refused to budge abd screamed th er place down although he had nt even got near the actual room! so she came out to see him and chat with him.. lovely lady but it didint help and so goes the story.. today he had an appt and this time i wanted him to be seen properly as his teeth have been hurting him since before xmas due to new molars but its going on so long that i thought best he get seen but no go..lots of screaming and trying to run away with a bewildered sister looking on ! even bribery of having a go with the chair wouldnt get him in so we had to resort to drastic measures and i had to restrain him so she could look which didnt help matters and now i feel awful and all the work we d done prior has gone out of the window and im sure were never going to get him in their again but i and the dentist agreed that we needed to look in case there was something wrong with his teeth.. of course it hurt him this way and now hes very upset and has shut himself in his room plus he screamed all the way home and refuses to come down and weve got to go out and see his teacher later for parents eve... has anybody else had similar experiences with dentists and how did they get over it ..any advice greatly accepted...desperate mum!!!!!p.s nobody else has a fear of dentists in our house so he hasnt caught it from anybody!!

My sis is a dentist and someone posted something similar a few weeks back.
Sis recommended asking for a home visit....child happier in own environment....she said it works for the ASD children she sees.

but do all dentists do home visits ?

If they are NHS then yes....its in the patients charter somewhere....information from sis not me I havent got a clue!!!!I was the thicky off the family!!!!

thanks..maybe i`l call them ready for the next visit.either that or sedate him with piriton..LOL

my younger brother has autisam (sp?) and my mum had the same sort of show when we did our dentist trip.
my mum used to give him and (still does at 17) a large dose of calpol about 30min before app, it carms them down.

being a bit thick, but wat does asd stand for?

no idea. ds1 will press the buttons to go up and down on the chair but will not open his mouth. In his case I don't think he's scared (doesn't know what a dentist is/does) just doesn't comprehend the instuction. We were talking about dentistts this morning and agreed that he will need a GA if anything ever needs to be done- not sure how we'd know though.

If you do ever need to get any work done ask about some coating type stuff they use on the teeth to prevent decay.

There is a dentist thart goes to his school, but I'm assuming they didn't get to see inside his mouth either.

we have had exactly the same experience as jimjams!

Me too! DS is fine about going to the buiding and her room but just won't sit still or open his mouth for any length of time. Our dentist is very experienced and SN specialist, very patient and gives, GIVES, you a set of PECs to help prepare them!!! She manages to have enough chance to look to see if anything needs doing. When she did decide that something needed doing he had GA so she could also have a good look around and put those sealants on JimJams mentioned. Dreaded it, it was fine.
I don't know why your DS should be so scared of the dentist Bambi06, I wonder what has made him so scared? I think a home visit sounds the best option in the circs.

he has so many fear s anyway that it s just another to add to the list ..anything new causes anxiety... by the way ASD means autistic spectrum disorder

hello, this is more of a moan orstatement and just to get my frustration out of me,i came from dentist yesterday in tears, my son with gaging problems (to do with things in his mouth ie cotton wool texture of many food etc he has eating disorder and adhd and traists of aspbergers,) dentist tried to fill in tooth and "proptly told me he could not work under these conditions,and dpropped his tools on the tray".
i know it must be frustrating for them but we have to deal with it day in day out and this attitude really doesnt help = i came away feeling a complete failure as a mother and frustrated when a --so called health caring profession has this attitude,--
i have tried for new dentist but in this area - even though they say dentists for all - very few taking new patients on thier books and especially when they here of my sons problems dont want to know... we have to go to birminghams dentist centre ,,, but what a night mare---- 3 hours travel each way on public transport to get thier. any comments or suggetios would be appreciated by the way he is 13 years of age so not a toddler. thanks in advance.

I work for an NHS dentist, which doesn't do home visits, and I'm pretty sure we would do them if we HAD to..am in Scotland though so maybe it's different here?

Can you get a referral to see an SN dentist? This was our back-up plan for the DSes. The dentist said she would see how the appointment went and if it was too difficult we could see the SN dentist instead.

I have just been asked to take DS1 - ASD for his first check up so I am wondering what to do. He is a little bit better at having his hair cut but would be unlikely to let someone look in his mouth. Also our dentist is great but his english is not so great whereas DS1 only understands very clear simple instructions - and probably would not comply with them Where are you in Scotland 'HereComeTheGirls' ?

I am in Edinburgh

okay if i get desperate will board the train to Edinburgh - at least that will be popular

Oh no..sorry, I meant I don't think it's in the NHS rules here that dentists must do home visits as we do not do them, and we would do them if it was in the rules!!!

More than news - I can understand the dentist downing tools if he felt it was too difficult or distressing to the child to proceed but what arrangements did he make for completing the filling? It almos sounds like he had a mini tantrum the dentist I mean!
Cyber I got Ds ( SLD-non verbal at the time) used to the dentists building, (we used to pop in to use the loo!!, speak to the staff, buy a toothbrush), then the dentists room (and his box of stickers!) Meanwhile I trained ds to open his mouth wide for toothbrush check (see if I done a good enough job). His first check up - he sat on my knee and opened his mouth for his tooth brush - so the dentist was able to have a good look. He was rewarded with a sticker and a new dinosaur brush! ( We still have to do this!) The softly softly little by little approach seemed to work! Ds (who drinks from a sippercup due to poor fine motor control)had to have a filling at age 7 - well he sat quietly, in the chair. Recently it had to be replaced and again he sat quietly, mouth open! It probably helped that the tooth was uncomfortable and the dentist was 'making it better by filling in the hole with a special tooth plaster!' Ds is very proud of his shiny tooth and shows it to everyone!!
Hope it goes well for you and ds.

hi, he has requested that birmingham dentel centre sees my son but that can take up to 6 months for a appointment so my son has to grin and bear it . thats the dentists words not mine!!!!!.
yes as to the tantrum - by the the dentist - i mean --
i did wonder who had the problems === the one in the chair or the one with the tools-- quite worrying really !!!!!

Agree! May be worth asking friends locally which dentist they think would manage better!