If you have an autistic child or a child with sensory disorders, you know that they need to have a regular routine. You also know that their routine can be stressful enough, but adding in any triggers can lead to a full meltdown. A visit to the dentist can cause a lot of problems, not only because they are out of their routine, but also because there are all sorts of triggers there, including loud noises and bright lights. There are ways that you can help to reduce how much your child is affected by their dentist's appointment.
Headphones
You don't necessarily need to have headphones that they can use to listen to music, although that can be good if music will calm them. What you are looking for is headphones that cover the entire ear and that have noise canceling capabilities. That way, the loud noises that can come from the dentist's tools and treatments can be significantly erased and can give your child some peace.
Toothpaste
Both autistic kids and kids with sensory disorders can have problems with changing their particular brands of anything. They may also problems with changing their toothpaste for a number of reasons. One is that a different toothpaste may tingle on their lips, gums, or tongue, which can cause your child to have a meltdown. Another problem is that a different toothpaste may taste wrong. One way to avoid this problem is to make sure that you bring your own toothpaste for the dentist to use, if necessary. You don't have to take a full tube, just a travel size should work. Make sure that you tell the dentist that you have toothpaste that they need to use and why it is important to make sure that they use that particular brand and type of toothpaste.
Lights
While the dentist needs to have lights so that they can see what they are doing, those bright lights can be really stressful for kids with special needs. You can talk to your dentist to see if they lower the brightness of the lights, adjust the angle of the lights, or use a smaller light. If that isn't possible, talk to your child to see if you can lay a washcloth over their eyes to block out the light.
If you have a child with special needs, you know that going to the dentist can be difficult. There are ways that you can handle to situation. For more advice on dental issues, contact a dentist like Jeffrey S. Thaller DMD.
Share25 May 2017
Hi, my name is Kevin Nelson and I want to tell you about my experience. I had a painful tooth so I went to see my dentist. After the examination, he said that I needed to have a root canal to save the tooth. I told the dentist to just pull the tooth instead and then he explained why that wasn't a good idea. He said that pulling the tooth would cause additional problems and then he told me what could happen. I didn't want any more problems, so the dentist did the root canal and I'm glad that he did. I wanted to write a blog to tell others about the benefits of a root canal and what to expect during the procedure. I hope that by getting the word out, other people won't make the same mistake that I almost did by getting a perfectly good tooth pulled.