[tri-med] Re: Any info on Dyspraxia? -cleaning teeth

Karen said, ..."Another trick, which I had forgotten that we do until I was
talking to
Elizabeth, is to make Alex brush his teeth. He has an electric toothbrush
and just brushing his teeth is "therapy" for speaking as it stimulates all
the nerves and muscles of the mouth and makes him very aware of where his
tongue is in his mouth. This in turn improves his speech and makes the whole
speaking thing easier for him. A regular toothbrush will work, but an
electric toothbrush is much better because of the fast repetitive
movement...."


I tried an electric toothbrush with Bec but she only does one spot until it
was starting to get really irritated, any suggestion would be appreciated as
I think they are great. I went back to a manual brush and I find I have to
do most of the brushing to even hope to cover all areas and even I, nor the
dentist, can get at many areas. Between her very large, active tongue
attacking anything in her mouth or the lip and facial muscles contracting
when touched it takes the dentist and a mouth full of wedges with the
hygenist doing distracting with the suction to keep her tongue busy
elsewhere....it is taking the dentist 40 minutes to do a clean.
While on this subject Bec is needing to have a little perodontal repair, a
graft over her front lower gums and at the same time they will 'release'
some of the really contracted muscles around her lower gum line that prevent
cleaning in those areas. If we don't do this she will start to get cavities
in those areas and every cavity means a surgical procedure for her.

Catherine, mom of Becky (32yrs Trisomy 13Mosaic)

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