Monday 29 December 2014

Open wide....

December saw a trip to the dentist, Max's previous dental appointment didn't go too well as he was preoccupied with getting to the local shopping centre and wouldn't allow a good dental exam

Max has become much better with age with his dental visits, when he was younger I remember taking him to hospital for general anaesthetic (horrible memories!!) he has a few extractions & a large crown fitted to a back tooth

When Max had any wobbly loose (tooth fairy worthy) teeth he would get so annoyed with them, he couldn't cope with the wobbly feeling in his mouth. So, he would get a small towel and bring it to Dad! ...... PULL, he wanted Dad to use the towel to hold on to the wobbly tooth and pull it out. I do remember going into Max's room once and finding him covered in blood where he had managed to pull his own tooth out *shudder*

Dental visits for children with autism can be stressful , it is such a sensory overwhelming experience. The bright lights, the smells, the tastes and the noise of the machines and the latex gloves & face masks your dentist wears. Fingers in your mouth (rather them than me, however Max isn't a biter!)

Anyhow, Max's recent visit went really well. We both went with him this time and took lots of pictures & video as he loves to watch things played back.  He allowed the water jet to clean his teeth (this is a first) the suction (hoover) He coped so well & managed to give me the thumbs up whilst having his teeth cleaned and showed quite good skill in speaking.... telling me "strawberry sundae McDonalds" .....I told the dentist not to judge and as a parent you need to bring out the big gun bribes sometimes!!!

Max's dentist is a specialist dentist and they really are so great with him, they spend time and let him stop & start as needed. They also don't flinch when he spits the water into the mini sink but he misses and it goes all over the floor

No stickers though, Max most certainly wont entertain a sticker.... water jets yes, sticker, no way!!