Parenting Autism: First Trip to Dentist

Bryce met his first dentist (age 6, 10 months). The social story prep worked wonders - He expected the dentist to cleanhis teeth and count them. 😊 Bryce also wanted to know how the super cool reclining chair worked. 😉 #parentingautism

[@andrewmorton395]

I have Autism AD HD OCD, I grind my teeth all the time, I am 65 now

[@ParentingAutismShow]

Thanks for sharing, Andrew!

[@rileyfulling1681]

Amazing, brave boy. Was he nervous? Did he have cavities?

[@ChrisColter]

No cavities! A clear check up. ☺ He did amazingly well. We did a lot of preparation with videos and story books to help him understand what to expect which reduced his anxiety. *Yay!*

[@rileyfulling1681]

Very impressive it's his first time at the dentist at that age and no cavities. I'm prepping my kid for his 1st dentist appointment and I don't think it's going to go this good. He's only two and I don't think he's cavity free. Luckily this video models a great visit though so hopefully it helps. Is your kid a good brusher? Why did he go to the dentist earlier, just a matter of getting him ready?

[@ChrisColter]

@@rileyfulling1681 Bryce brushes his teeth every morning. When we started, we used pictures of teeth on the bathroom counter, and the pictures showed where the toothbrush went. Visuals are a good way to go for brushing. Videos too. We also used a 30 second hourglass timer (found on Amazon) so he could visualize how long he needed to brush. Start the hourglass when the toothbrush goes in his mouth. We had not taken him to the dentist before this because he did not have the communication skills to tell us exactly how he felt and his fears. In our experience, so many things can turn into disasters because of lack of communication and understanding. Other factors were that we did not have any issues with tooth pain and we weren't too concerned about his baby teeth. In addition, we didn't feel like x-rays were necessary at an early age with no tooth pain and didn't want to be put on the spot for them at the office. Lastly, Bryce does not eat candy. We just never let him try them because of the issues with dyes and everything else that comes with eating candy. He has had M&M's, ice cream, and cake. He gets those only on special occasions or achievements. He has a dairy allergy, so he breaks out whenever he has dairy which is in chocolate, ice cream, and everything else. Haha. I think we did an episode on our podcast about his dentist visit. Also, you should enter our February giveaway on the Parenting Autism podcast! We announced how to enter on our last episode (Episode Number 58). Let us know how it turns out. Hope that helps.

[@rileyfulling1681]

Wish I could wait to take my kid to the dentist but he's a candy eater so it can't wait and I think he's got work that'll need to get done and it's going to be rough so we're just preparing him the best we can. Where's your podcast? What's it called?

[@ChrisColter]

@@rileyfulling1681 it’s called Parenting Autism. You can find it on all of the podcast platforms including apple, spotify, etc. If you have alexa you can say Alexa, play the Parenting Autism Podcast and it will play.