Decreasing Oral Defensiveness with a Special Needs Child

Oral Defensiveness is an extremely aversive response to touch sensations in and around the mouth that may cause extreme sensory, emotional and behavioral responses when eating or brushing teeth.

Click here for a guide for working with your child to decrease oral defensiveness. 

 

A child who is orally defensive does not allow food or other objects to approach and enter the mouth. Some children facing the condition are known to accept liquids but remain absolutely intolerant toward solid food. Many children who are orally defensive develop habits of mouthing their fingers, toys, and other objects but refrain from accepting food at any cost. Worse still, some of these children do not let anything approach their mouths at all.  

Click here for a guide for working with your child to decrease oral defensiveness.

Here are some essential tips for encouraging toothbrushing: 

• Selecting a toothbrush and a toothpaste that the child may tolerate
  
• Experimenting with toothbrushes of different bristles, colors, shapes, sizes, and firmness to suit the child
  
• Choosing an electric toothbrush that vibrates on its own can work sometimes
  
• Choosing a singing toothbrush to actively engage the child into brushing their teeth.
  
• Changing the flavors of the toothpaste to identify what the child likes best 

Moving onwards, here are some toothbrushing techniques that can be adapted to engage orally defensive children into brushing habits: 

• Sing a familiar song to the child throughout the toothbrushing tenure.
  
• Use sand-timers to set a toothbrushing time for the child.
  
• Experiment with different water temperatures when the child is brushing.
  
• Introduce different ways to successfully complete the toothbrushing.
  
• Use a mirror during the toothbrushing span and make the child stand in front of the mirror.
  
• Turn toothbrushing into a fun game for orally defensive children to keep the germs away.
  
• Gradually and steadily, turn toothbrushing into a daily routine for the child. 

Oral defensiveness can sum up a range of problems that are not taken care of. These lead to a lack of oral motor skills, eating disorders, intolerance towards toothbrushing, and speech impairment. Timely attention and appropriate measures from the earliest signs of oral defensiveness in a child can help tackle these issues and make way for overall better welfare. 

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Source links: 

http://www.widesmiles2.org/cleftlinks/WS-370.html
https://www.toolstogrowot.com/blog/2015/04/26/tips-strategies-to-help-children-with-poor-tolerance-for-tooth-brushing
http://brightstarttherapy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Oral-Defensiveness-Handout.pdf
https://www.arktherapeutic.com/blog/oral-defensiveness-aversions/
http://childrenstherapyconnections.com/oral-motor-exercises-can-improve-speech/