Brushing and flossing

[JohnHMich]

Back in March there was a discussion of a suction toothbrush. Suction toothbrush

We don't have a suction tool at this point. I was thinking that one of the light travel electric toothbrushes might help. For flossing, has anyone used the Airflosser by Sonicare? That uses a small amount of mouthwash to do the deed. I noted in the previous thread that folks had found non-foaming toothpaste which probably helps.

 

[affected]

For my Chris an electric toothbrush helped for a while as his hands weakened it allowed him to keep brushing his own teeth.
However he reached a point quite suddenly, where the vibration of the electric toothbrush would put his jaw into clonus and often cause it to snap shut and lock.
At that point I started brushing his teeth, very carefully, and used very little water at all.
We would rinse mostly by a wet toothbrush with him looking down with a towel in his lap and this worked well for quite a while.

 

[lgelb]

We used the handheld flossers, that are single use. And an electric toothbrush.

Since my husband died, I have discovered the VarioSonic, which probably would have helped him since in addition to different brush head softnesses, you can slow down the revolution speed, which might create less liquid and/or reduce clonus if that's an issue.

 

[DaleJoni]

My wife Joni had advanced bulbar ALS = couldn’t swallow, spit or move her tongue. I used the foam lollipops for elder care and Peroxyl mouthwash. Dipped it into a cap full of mouthwash and scrubbed teeth, gums, cheeks, everything. Used a second one dipped in water to rinse and clean. Then just a paper towel and finger to wipe her teeth and gums. Didn’t have to worry about toothpaste remnants in her mouth with the mouthwash. This was enough for us to keep her gums and teeth from being an issue, and she tolerated it ok.

 

[Lancasterlanie]

Thanks for the tips. Where can I buy the foam lollipops?

 

[DaleJoni]

I ordered them on Amazon. There’s quite a few different brands available.
The ones I used were called Wellgler's Oral Care Swabs - Disposable Mouth Cleaning.

 

[Lancasterlanie]

Thank you. I’ll check them out.