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Hi! I have a grandson with Autism who just turned three yrs. old. One of the many issues is brushing his teeth.. At first the Dentist told us not to get to concerned over it to try and just clean them with a cotton ball and water.. I have tried so many times to lure him into putting the toothbrush in his mouth and he will not budge. His teeth are getting very yellow and I am afraid he is going to start having problems. The only good thing is since he does not eat any sweets other then the fruit in the baby jar it will prolong getting cavities.But then again eating is another issue for another post.
Any suggestions for this little boy who is the love of my life!
Thanks and have a great day!

Thanks for joining the forum. They do brushing teeth at the summer camp my kids attend, which is good since it is hard to get his teeth brushed and he is 12. I have read of families brushing the teeth while kids are sleeping, similar to what they do for cutting hair.

I have not tried that, but will do some searches and see if I can come up with a site to give some direction of getting this task done for your grandson.

Before I go I am curious to know if he gets OT or has any sensory issues? A therapist might be able to assist. There are some good items at a site called Talk Tools:

Sme oral motor tools might be necessary like chewy tubes or the gator movement thing or even an electric type of toothbrush

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Here is a link that might be suitable to observe and gain insights from

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My 3 year old son, Aaron, HATED me brushing his teeth. He would throw a fit every single time he saw the toothbrush coming.

During one of our parent trainings with his ABA therapist, she taught us "First-Then." One way to get Aaron to comply was to tell him he had to do something first, then he would get what he wanted. For example, if he wanted to eat candy, we would tell him, "FIRST you have to eat your broccoli, THEN you can have some candy."

I figured this idea was a great way to get him to let me brush his teeth. He likes having a bottle of milk in the morning and another one at night. So I always tell him, "FIRST brush, THEN milk." He still fights me and whines a little bit, but it has gotten much, much better.

We have a schedule board for pecs that shows First with picture indicating what you would start with and then picture as the reward or second activity.

Good that you were able to utilize the ABA therapist while you still had the therapy funded to get this self-help task taught.

I would think though that you brush your teeth before drinking milk since that film would be left on, but you can wipe it off with tissue?

Thanks for sharing your tips.