Published on 12, July, 2020
What toothpaste and toothbrush would you recommend for sensory issues? What prompt helps would you recommend for keeping or creating the brushing routine? And finally what suggestions would you give to someone who has a phobia of the dentist? Are there specialist dentists for such things?
It depends what the sensory issues are. I can't bear squeaky toothbrushes! Or foaming toothpaste. Sensodyne is my preference for both of these problems But others have different issues, like not liking mint, there are fruit or other flavours, sometimes kids toothpaste.
Every area should have community dental teams, I've seen them and they do specialise in people with problems and you'd be surprised at how many people do have problems. I had a major panic attack in one surgery and they were great, they didn't hassle me, left me until I could breathe again and then the head nurse came and chatted with me, she said not to worry and that they had people who reacted far worse than me, some farmers the sort of men who can wrestle a bullock to the ground would be screaming and crying at the sight of a needle.
I think it's very difficult to disassociate yourself from something thats happening inside your head, also you're lying there helpless, being told to be still and quiet, whilst someone probes around inside your mouth often causing you pain, it feels like consenting to torture or an assault. You can see psychologists for dental phobia and various dentists do say they specialise in nervous patients, but some have a weird idea of what makes people afraid, one insisted on lovingly showing me all her instruments and explaing what thy're used for, some people find this sort of understanding comforting, I felt like it was a sort of pre-torture session, I never went back. I used to have to have sedatives to even sit on the couch, 60mg of intravenous valium and I was still fighting, I had another injection of what I think might of been rohypnol, that just made me a pain in the bum as I wouldn't stop talking and wriggling.
I find a soft normal brush is ok for me, definately not an electric one, as that makes my brain go biggledy. There are a whole range of different toothpastes out there, in different flavours, I use kingfisher fennel flavour one, I don't like mint ones.
But I'm probably not the best person to ask about dentists, I've got terrible teeth, the few I have left anyway, they keep wanting me to see a hygenist and as far as I'm concerned they're state licenced psychopaths, the last one I saw left me looking like I'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and she kept insisting that having bleeding gums and wobbly teeth was all part of the process, I didn't go back. I also find that when I've had my teeth cleaned at the dentist, they feel weird and I dont' like it, it feels like my mouth belongs to someone else.
PAX said:what suggestions would you give to someone who has a phobia of the dentist?
There are indeed dentists that specialise in patients who have phobias or are highly sensitive - it would be worth asking your local dentist for a reference of one as they tend to know who operates in their area.
Don't be surprised if it is some distance away as there tend to not be many.
It is also worth considering addressing the root cause of the phobia - a therapist with both autism and phobia skills would be the ideal way to go as traditional phobia treatments do not tend to work for neurodiverse patients.