A Short Note on Teeth

It seems these days that nearly all children wear braces at some point in their young lives. My daughter has them now. My son went from 6th grade retainers, to 7th grade braces, to 8th grade head-gear, before everything came off in 10th grade to display beautiful pearly whites.

The problem for my son is that his pearly whites aren't always so pearly. The medication that he is on to control his movement disorder causes dry mouth. As a result, food often sticks to his teeth, especially in the front. He is who he is: he is usually not aware that there might be food on his teeth. So we tell him.

If any neuro-typical person had that stray piece of spinach caught on their teeth, they'd probably be embarrassed, but probably would want someone to tell them. I don't think my son gets uncomfortable when we tell him to wipe off his teeth; he recognizes, because we've told him many times, that it's not a pleasant sight. Hearing this message so frequently, he's usually pretty careful about this now -- but not always.

The short note on teeth: Brush often, brush thoroughly, if you can't brush, wipe.