Dental Work, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Anxiety
Dental work, Asperger’s syndrome, and anxiety - those three phrases do not go together! They are, however, my reality. Well actually, they are my son’s reality. He was complaining of a toothache on Friday night and yesterday I managed to get him in with a fabulous pediatric dentist who has experience with children on the spectrum. The dentist’s niece has Asperger’s Syndrome so he “gets it.” Alexander did great yesterday - he let the tech take x-rays which involved foreign objects in his mouth. He also did a great job during the cleaning only gagging a couple of times; he probably only swallowed half of the fluoride this time! It has been a year since his last cleaning (I know, bad mommy) but the sensory integration therapy and Wilbarger brushing protocol helped tremendously.
So the bad news is that he has a between the teeth infected cavity! The dentist said no more raisins, gummy worms, fruit roll-ups, etc. I let the dentist know that Alexander doesn’t like raisins and can’t have the other foods as he’s on the Feingold Diet which eliminates artificial flavors and colors of which gummy candy has. I then went on to explain that Alexander doesn’t like anything chewy as he has low oral-motor tone and chewing is a chore. I wish he’d eat raisins, it would help build his muscle strength in his jaw! The dentist asked about juice - nope, not much in the way of juice either (maybe a few days a month). So here’s my conundrum of a child with an interesting cavity.
So we’ll go back in two weeks and they will sedate him with Versed, then give him laughing gas, and follow-up with local anesthetic. They did let me now they’ll wrap him in a Velcro blanket. My son is tactile defensive and claustrophobic. Dear God help us on March 11! I explained it all to my son and practiced rolling him up in a blanket. Thankfully he’s a smart guy so understood everything I said. I think we’ll be fine before and during the procedure but afterwards is where I’m concerned.
Alexander is to skip his clonidine the night before and the day of the procedure he will not be able to take his Focalin XR nor his Risperdal. Alexander is combative under stress and I’ve been told that Versed can make even the most docile child combative as they come out of it. Woohooo, yay me! Alexander is a scrawny little guy (a whopping 41 pounds now) but when he’s in the throes of an outburst someone always gets hurt. My mom is going to try to come with me to the appointment so she can help me afterwards. I’m going to stay positive and think that Alexander wil just be giddy and loopy coming out of it - I don’t want my butt kicked my a six year old!
If you’ve had experience with Versed - please, please share them with me. I’ll take the good, the bad, and the ugly.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Your right those 3 things dont sit very well together, but sounds as though you have some good support. As 6 year olds certainly can kick some butt!!
February 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Aine had versed this morning for a repeat filling. With the original one she was given Versed. She freaked out. She was fine until the work started. She then started kicking and crying hysterically. It was horrible. I stayed in the room, talked her through it and swiftly picked her up when it was done. She cried the 5 minutes it took to get home, snuggled on the couch and ws fine the rest of the day. She had no memory of it. Then the filling came out after a few months, however the dentist was able to refill it without any sedation or gas. Last Friday was the second time it has fallen out. We tried approaching it like last time, but Aine would’t open her mouth. I thought it was because she had to wait so long in the chair. We rescheduled for first thing this morning. She was fine and compliant until the ass’t decided she needed novacaine. The “pinch” upset Aine and she refused to sit and open her mouth again. With grave reservations (after last time), I agreed to the Versed. She seemed to respond better this time, so I left the room with Eamon when requested. I listened from the waiting room and heard nothing, so I thought things were going better. After reading 2-3 books with E, I went back to check on her. She was hysterical. They had a third person in the room holding her down. Luckily they were just finishing, so I grabbed her. She was confused, angry and hysterical. She had been crying for awhile. She cried again on the way home and we st for a few hours on the couch snuggling and watching a video. She was then fine. It is probably a comment you didn’t need, but it is so fresh and raw since it happened this morning. I feel so guilty for leaving her back there, since she bacame so upset. I just have no other ideas for you. Luckily it is supposed to be a amnesiac drug.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Heather - thank you for your experience, I definitely want to hear bad experiences as well as good. I’m sorry Aine was having a heck of a time with the filling and has had to go through so much, poor baby girl! I hope that this is the end of it for her.
The dentist did tell me that about 70% of kids will not remember a thing after it wears off so hoping Alexander falls in that as well. Evidently I’ll be in a private waiting room next to the treatment room so I’ll be able to hear everything.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Xan hasn’t had Versed but he did do very well at his last dental appointment. (He hates the ‘hook’…therefore I hate it too.) Funny we both have 6 year old ‘Xander’s’ with ASD.
Good luck Mama…I feel for you.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
LOL Angela - must be the “hip” name/diagnostic combo these days. *wink*
February 27th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Unfortunately I have no experience of that one, but I have lots of experience in getting my butt kicked by a 7 year old and an 8 year old. All I can suggest is that you borrow my ear-plugs!
On another note, how come you still visit the old black and white blog rather than the new one?
As for the anxiety, around here it seems to go in waves, fever pitch for a few months and then a lull. I could do with more lulls in my life.
Best wishes
February 27th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Maddy - I have some pretty pink ear plugs hehe. Ya know I don’t have a clue why I visit the old one, I subscribe to the feeds to both (I just realized that) and the link from my homepage goes to your old one. Umm, no good answer for that haha.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I worked as an assistant at a pediatric dental office. So, while I found this site in my quest to get some dish on the a*s hat, Adam, of BB9, I found this topic of interest to me due to my employment history.
I encourage parents to take their children to a ped. dentist, no matter thier age, behavior, or disability. There is something to be said for the Drs. and staff who work with children all day. In consideration of special needs children, this is especially important. A general dentist’s approach to a special needs child may be too lax. They may be more fast to suggest general anesthetic in a hospital surgical suite before attempting the less invasive approach to treating within the office.
What I wanted to share was a tip from a wonderful mother of an autistic son that I met while employed in the ped. dental office. She was so concerned by her son’s natural reaction of putting his hands up to his mouth, in an attempt to stop us from cleanings. She came up with something that worked so well. She brought with her two Pringles chips cans and placed them centered around his elbows. He could still reach above the chair, but his range of motion was limited, as were the amount of staff that had been required to keep his hands away from the dental tools and us performing the cleaning.
I don’t know if this will help anyone, but thought I should share.