Nick does fairly well getting his teeth brushed. This is done while he is lying in his bed. I use the Boca sonic toothbrush. I wear disposable gloves. I sit on the edge of his bed and put one leg over one of his arms, gently. He does not mind this. I block his other arm with an arm, the one I use to brush his teeth. He will let me brush one section of his teeth for a few seconds and pull his arms away from me, and he’ll grab the toothbrush. Don’t let him scrape his gums with the toothbrush. I let him do this and repeat this process until his teeth are clean. I use jars of water to rinse off his toothbrush as I go. The words I say, when I start brushing each time, are “clean teeth”.
He goes to the dentist every three months to get his teeth cleaned. He needs to go before he eats anything that day, so his appointments are scheduled for about 7:30 am. He’ll get horrible reflux if he doesn’t go before he eats. He goes to Lehair & Gallagher in Worcester, across from the Y. Dr. Matt is his dentist and he helps transfer Nick from his wheelchair to the dentist’s chair. Nick gets wrapped up to keep him from fighting the dentist. He likes the wrap.
If his current health insurance is CCA OneCare, Lahair & Gallagher does not take that insurance. Nick pays out of pocket. I won’t switch to a dentist that CCA covers because I was told by CCA that they don’t transfer the patient from a wheelchair to a dentist chair.