← Return to Challenges of macro caregiving: Dental care, eye care, etc.

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@colleenyoung

Hi @ngyose, since you and your wife are dealing with early or young onset dementia (YOD), I also included this important topic in the Caregivers: Dementia group (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers-dementia/). You may wish to follow the group and join the discussions there.

@IndianaScott, did you have any issues of being bitten when using the fingertip tooth brush?

Ngyose, as you point out, dental hygiene is important for overall health. I found some of the tips in this article to be potentially practical
- Family Caregiver Alliance https://www.caregiver.org/dental-care-dementia
For example, breaking down instructions into steps and offering pieces of apple for those times when brushing wasn't successful. I was a bit surprised to read that flossing is more important than brushing. Did you realize that? Any of the tips resonate with you?

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Replies to "Hi @ngyose, since you and your wife are dealing with early or young onset dementia (YOD),..."

Hi @ngyose and @colleenyoung In our case it was a classic example of ‘good enough’ caregiving. My finger never got bitten, but then again not every tooth got cleaned every time. Flossing was an impossibility and luckily my wife only had one minor dental issue in her 14 years of her war.