Author: Trisha Saldanha| November 24, 2020
“I am the parent of a 3.3-year-old, non-verbal boy, who was diagnosed with autism at the Sethu Centre at the age of 2 years. Ever since then, we have been under the expert guidance of team Sethu for intervention.
I am given to understand that my son has a condition called ‘Oromotor Sensitivity’, which makes it extremely difficult for me to brush his teeth. Due to this, he resists opening his mouth when he sees any object entering his mouth and so, mundane tasks such as teeth brushing becomes a Herculean task for us. He also does not understand the concept of brushing. For him, the toothbrush is a ‘foreign object’ that is inserted into his mouth forcibly, which makes him paranoid and he closes his mouth firmly.
As such, I was very concerned about his dental health and hygiene, as, at the age of 3, there was practically no brushing with mostly forceful resistance and temper tantrums.
I addressed this issue with the experts at Sethu and they formulated a home programme for my son, wherein I was asked to follow a set of strategies and steps while brushing daily. This programme also included an oral massage at regular intervals during the day.
With the help of this ‘Brushing Home Program’ designed by Sethu, now at the end of 3 months, my son readily opens his mouth around 50% of the time and allows me to brush with a cloth and finger brush; no toothpaste as my son would swallow the same. We use baby glycerine as advised.
The resistance to the brushing teeth has reduced to around 50% and also the paranoia associated with this routine. I can definitely see an improvement by 50%, from where we started, nevertheless, we still have a long way to go.
I am very grateful to Team Sethu, especially to the occupational therapists, Mahera Kantawalla and Trisha Saldanha for constantly guiding me through this process with their timely advice. Not only have they been proactive but also their dedicated approach deserves a mention.
With Team Sethu’s help and guidance, I am hopeful that there will come a time when my son will be totally comfortable with brushing and considerably overcome his fear and apprehension concerning brushing teeth and eventually his oromotor sensitivity will diminish.”
As told to TRISHA SALDHANA,
Fellow – Occupational Therapist