Brushing Teeth

[pgleos]

My husband has had PSP for 8 years and the neurologist has just told us that he has a combination of PSP and CBD. Apart from all the problems he has, one of the things he is having problems with is brushing his teeth, he always needs help, but the problem is that he can not get the water out when he is rinsing, he swallows it, even the listerine . Does anyone have that problem?

[AliBee1]

Hi. The PSP assocation did a very good article on oral hygeine and brushing teeth and they suggested that the toothbrush should be used dry to reduce foam and not to rinse out with water. I am sure they would be able to send you a copy of it. Also our dentist told us not to use Listerine or mouth wash. This seems to work well for my husband who has CBD so I hope it will help you. Good luck AliBee.

[pgleos in reply to AliBee1]

AliBee, Thank you very much, our life will be a lot easier, because is frustaring for both of us the time for brushing his teeth.

[Kevin_1 in reply to AliBee1]

Curious, our's said the opposite... That is so, 'life', chuckles.

Did they give a reason?

Waving warmly... good t see you around.

Hope everything is as good as it might be.

Kevin

[pgleos in reply to Kevin_1]

Kevin, I tried everything

Thanks

[Kevin_1 in reply to pgleos]

Hi pgleos.

Yes, we all tend to do that. It's frustrating and heart breaking.

Wishing you the best.

Kevin

[AliBee1 in reply to Kevin_1]

Not too good at the moment. On a downward trend. xx

[Kevin_1 in reply to AliBee1]

Sorry to hear that.

Take care of yourself though too!

Thinking of you both.

Warmly

Kevin

[AliBee1 in reply to Kevin_1]

Thanks xx

[Kevin_1]

Hi

Sorry to hear about this 'struggle'

Have you tried leaning him forward over a kidney dish?

We use Liz's teeth in good ordwer for a long time.

The other thing I would mention is that there is a 'swab on' fluoride treatment now available. Dentists do it and after said treatment we have had no issues with decay for the last couple of years... Highly recomended.

I hope you get this sorted out.

Eight years, I take my hat off to you both.

Warmly

Kevin

[pgleos in reply to Kevin_1]

Thank You Kevin, I'll try the swab on, sounds a good alternative.

How I love this site, we learn a lot from everybody and we didn't feel alone with this horrible disease.

Thanks a lot,

Ligia

[Satt2015]

If this helps, try saying 1,2,3 and on the 3 the idea is too spit out, explain first and then say the 1,2,3 slowly

[pgleos in reply to Satt2015]

Satt2015, doesn't work and because he is so slow on his responses make it more difficult.

Thanks You!

[Bhakthan]

Same here. I use pure drinking water only for rinsing. Sometimes she spits it out, and sometimes she swallows!

[Melhukin]

This has been one of my arguments with my dads nursing home staff. Oral hygiene.

My dad has struggled brushing his teeth for a long time, when I noticed my dads gums/teeth/breathe changing I spoke to the staff, their excuse was they didn’t want to take away all his dignity so left him to do it himself.

I did ask for a mobile dentist to call to see him, this took 2 months for their visit.

My dads gums are shocking and will now have to go to the hygienist first then see the dentist again to have teeth removed. The only problem now is that he’s struggling to open his mouth wide. I have read about “locked jaw” before on this site but can’t find it.

The dentist did prescribe him some toothpaste that doesn’t foam and no advised no water is needed.

My dad is in pain with his teeth.

[pgleos in reply to Melhukin]

I'm so sorry to hear that experience with your dad Melhuking, that's the reason I asked for advice because I don't want to get a point where he can lose teeth and get an infection or something.

Warm regards

Pgleos

[Kaylewis]

I was told by dentist that your gp can get you a toothbrush with a suction action on it on prescription. , or may be try a baby toothbrush with thickened water.

[pgleos in reply to Kaylewis]

Kay Lewis, thanks for the advice, I will contact his doctor to get the prescription, I really appreciate your help

Thanks

[Jdjdjd]

Hi, my husband has CBD and we are year 11 , he is not mobile and we have had some terrible issues with choking and aspiration, he has been in hospital for this and came home last week, after having a peg fitted 😬, we have not wanted to do this, but Ian has gone from 14 stone to 8 so it was very obvious he was not getting enough nutrition, but to get to your question on oral health, our dentist came to visit on Monday, and gave us a prescription for Colgate Duraphat, a high concentrate fluoride toothpaste which you use on a dry brush and don’t rinse, I was amazed to get this on The NHS, but it’s something you can’t get get in the chemist,

She also said not to use mouthwash

Hope this helps

Janet

[pgleos in reply to Jdjdjd]

My heart is with you Jdjdjd, is hard to see our love one go through this nightmare, but we need to be strong and try not to sink and cheer up. My husband is not talking for more than a year and a half and is harder to know how his feelings are, but I manage. Thanks for the advice. I'll talk to his primary doctor for the prescription.

Warm regards

Pgleos

[Jdjdjd in reply to pgleos]

Thanks it is very hard to watch, Ian has come home with a disgusting pressure sore, which makes me feel very sick, and even the DN is upset with the situation, it is definitely neglect, and it is heart wrenching to see him so accepting of his situation, hopefully things will improve with the care he’s now getting.

Do you live in the UK, as your dental practice can do a referral to the community dentist for you, we also have a podiatrist comes every 3months to cut his toenails, which saves me getting the secateurs out ha ha

Good luck and keep in touch

Janet’s

[pgleos in reply to Jdjdjd]

I'm in the US, in California. I hope he gets better. I'm doing hes toenails for more than 20 years, so in that part we're Ok haha

Keep in touch

Ligia

[DenB]

My husband is in his 8-9th year with CBD and I have had to clean his teeth for him for probably 4 years now.

I use a baby toothbrush and he tries to eat the toothbrush and sucks it and swallows the tooth paste!

His front teeth look good but he has lost a couple of back teeth which cause a problem because food gets stuck in the spaces where his teeth were. I also have to check carefully, that food isn't left in the sides of his mouth at the back.

Good luck with the teeth cleaning!

Denise x

[pgleos in reply to DenB]

Thank you Denise for sharing with us your experience, 4 years is a long time and I admire you, I just started with this and I don't want this problem get out of hand. I'm glad I ask for advice on this panel, has been a lot of help that you can't find it anywhere else.

Best regards

Ligia

[Hidden]

Have you tried the foamless toothpaste? It was original developed for children with autism. We use this for mum. You can get on Amazon. It's called Oranurse. I'm told by the staff that look after mum that it's better because it's ok to swallow

[pgleos in reply to Hidden]

BakingQueen, I didn't know about this, thanks a lot, I have Amazon prime, I'll order it today. OMG, I'm learning a lot in this forum, I'm so thankful for people like you sharing their finding solutions for common issues. I'm not feeling alone in this horrible journey of PSP.

Warmly regards,

Ligia

[Birdman34265]

Hi pgleos, my Kathy uses red seal baking soda toothpaste which is

low foam ,she is still able to eject the water out , with the head in

slight downward position ,once facial muscle are paralyze it can be

hard to eject water out , seems we have some way to go,all the best

Peter and Kathy

[pgleos]

Thank You Peter.

Best regards,

Ligia

[Servena03]

I dread the teeth cleaning process, takes him ages to get his false teeth out, you never know if he has cleaned his teeth properly, sucks the brush instead of spitting out, I do give him lysterine to rinse he dose

manage to spit it out at present, my son who lives in

America sent over toothbrushes with two brush heads, the idea being the tooth goes between the head cleaning both sides,but i don't think he's using it properly, how can you tell, it's such a long ordeal. Dreading the future with more deteriorations. John's 83rd birthday oday, he coped reasonably well, with all his loved ones who came to visit with wishes, but went to bed extremely exhausted.

Good luck all and my wishes,xxxx

[pgleos in reply to Servena03]

Thanks Servena03, I really appreciate sharing your experiences with me, I'm not feeling alone anymore.

Warmly

Ligia

[dollydott]

Hi ligia

We are just going through the same struggle with mum and cleaning her teeth was not something I looked forward to.

Non foaming toothpaste is one of the best things for this. I bought mum the OraNurse which is good but the one I got was unflavoured so I shopped around and found ultra DEX which has a minty taste it's non foaming doesn't need rinsing and provides a protective shield over enamel. It also eliminates bad breath. Win win

I use it with a small electric toothbrush.

I can even use it with mum propped up on pillows in bed so I can get right to the back teeth which I'm sure I was rubbish at before.

Teeth cleaning was just a wet messy battle before and a choking risk

Hope this helps.

Your doing a great job

Lynda 😁

[pgleos in reply to dollydott]

Thanks Lynda. I was unsure to buy unflavored toothpaste, I like the idea to have some kind of taste, so I found Ultra Dex in Amazon, I just ordered today, but because is not prime I have to wait a few days, but I'm glad you share with me your experience, it means a lot.

Best wishes

Ligia

[dollydott]

Glad to help.

Good luck and thank goodness for amazon 😊

[pgleos in reply to dollydott]

The best!

Thanks a lot!