Hey friends, my grandfather seems to be having great difficulty brushing my grandmother's teeth. At her stage she doesn't know how to brush them on her own, and when he tries to do it for her she becomes very aggressive and doesn't allow him to. He finds himself just putting toothpaste on the end of his finger, and then giving her water so that she can swish it in her mouth. Many times she ends up swallowing the water instead of spitting. Does anyone have suggestions on how to overcome this? My father suggested mouthwash, but given the fact that it has alcohol and is harmful to swallow, I don't think that is a safe option. Thanks for any tips!

Hmmm... Can you get in touch with a dentist that
specializes in geriatric care? I found a dentist for
Dad once that specialized in that. I didn't even
know they existed til then. Good luck, and let us
know what you find out, if anything!
Carol
P.S. My first reaction was to have your Grandmother
suck on a lemon, but that may not be practical or,
depending on her tastes, pleasant. It works, though.

Although the teeth weren't a problem with us since Helen had false teeth,and I took them out to brush them, I never could get her to do the rinse and spit thing. She would swish the water in her mouth and then swallow it. I finally put a capful of mouthwash in a small glass of water and just let her swish and swallow. It wasn't enough mouthwash to do any harm but just enough to do the trick.

No experience with the teeth brushing yet, but I'm sure they do have alcohol free mouthwash. Everytime Mom, myself, or my husband have been in the hospital, the mouthwash they provided has always been alcohol free. I would be real surprised if they didn't sell it in a drugstore especially for people that are alcoholics, and cannot have a drop of it.

Jackie

You might try mouthwash from the health food store, like Jason brand or something else. Probably would be non toxic and maybe no alcohol.

I've noticed that my mom needs her teeth brushed lately but haven't been quite willing to persue it yet. I will though.

Hope you can find a good solution and share it with us.

~Kelly~

Maybe kid's toothpaste would do it? They taste pretty good and have the flouride. I think they're also less toxic if you swallow them accidently.

Kat

What I am learning in my ALZ caregiving classes is to break down the task into each step. Also, Grandpa could have his toothbrush with him and show by example each step needed in brushing teeth. ALZ patients mimic or mirror what the other person is doing.

Another idea I used to use when a nurses aide on patients that couldn't brush their teeth was to use a clean paper towel, wet it and gently brush their teeth and gums with it. This is used when all else fails.

That's a great idea!

I basically am standing next to her and giving her each step ("put the toothbrush under the water, brush your teeth, rinse the toothbrush") and this works well. I can add also that mom has developed mouth-breathing as she has progressed and we had an experience with thrush recently, so the oral hygiene is essential. I have been using a mouthwash with no alcohol called Prevention (you can get it at Walgreen's, usually on the bottom shelf) and it has zinc in it - supposed to discourage thrush.

Wow, I just looked at this reply that you posted recently Judy, and I realized that this was less than a year ago when my grandmother was still being aggressive and talking some sense. It's like night and day how drastic her decline has been since then, less than 1 year. Unreal.

The change happens so fast that you don't realize it. it was exactly one year ago that Bill and I went up North. He was walking around outside. In July he was still able to walk but not as steady. Then in Sept. I needed to help him stand up to move from the wheelchair to the bed. Nov. He was unable to even stand and I needed the lift to move him. Three months later he was gone. It doesn't seem possible that he went from walking to unable to stand in less than a year.