Source: dailycaring.com
It’s essential for good dental health and overall health to make sure your older adult regularly brushes their teeth. But when someone has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, they might need help to brush their teeth properly to avoid cavities and other dental issues. Unfortunately, very few people are willing to sit quietly and allow someone else to stick things in their mouth. Think of how you’d react if someone tried that on you. So it’s understandable if your older adult resists when you try to brush their teeth – it’s human instinct. To help you keep their teeth clean and mouth healthy, try dementia expert Teepa Snow’s 3 key techniques to get the job done with a minimum of fuss. In this 2 minute video clip, Teepa demonstrates how to successfully brush someone else’s teeth by calming and distracting those natural instincts to resist.
3 key tips for successfully brushing someone’s teeth
Teepa Snow’s 3 key techniques to help brush teeth:
- Stand on their dominant side – for example, stand on the person’s right side if they’re right-handed
- You hold the toothbrush, but they hold your hand that’s holding the brush. You’re controlling the motions, but since their hand is there, their brain thinks they’re doing the brushing on their own.
- Put your hand on the dominant side shoulder and apply gentle downward pressure while brushing. This takes their attention away from what’s happening in their mouth.
While she’s demonstrating, Teepa explains why these techniques help you successfully brush someone else’s teeth.
She also shows the natural reactions that happen when you don’t use her techniques.
Those natural reactions are probably what you’ve been up against if you’ve previously tried helping someone brush their teeth by taking over.
