My DH has always brushed his teeth after every meal (OCD?) For some time now he will only brush when I put the toothpaste on the brush and direct it to his mouth. He brushes every time, but I noticed a day or so ago that he really isn't cleaning his teeth. There is still this yucky film on them. I've tried to help him but he gets upset with me. Sometimes he will let me floss them, but that is also difficult and he says it hurts. This is one I never thought about. We got through the shaving thing when I bought him an electric shaver. He will "shave" and then let me finish. However we only shave him a couple of days a week. But the teeth think, I'm not sure how to handle. He would be so embarrassed if he knew how gunky his teeth get.
My Dh was a compulsive brusher, flosser as well and now needs to be reminded. To help with dental hygiene got a water-pik type device. I set it up after he brushes and let him flush out his mouth. To help in cleaning I put either a solution of mouth wash diluted or hydrogen peroxide. Works like a charm. Of course...he helps tp clean the bathroom as some of his sprays hit the mirror the wall or me! I have also found when he does not like to shower, shave or brush that gently telling him that he is "gunky" works....laughingly say "only your loving wife will tell you" seems to work.
My oh my. I can't imagine giving my dh a water pick. Glad it works for you though. I think the battery toothbrushes are nice though, but I can't get my dh to use one. Toothbrushing and showering have not been a problem with me, so far.
early stages the waterpick is good for oral hygiene. my DH like imohr abhors that stream of water. i get into the shower withhim and he uses the battery one. there are several type battery brushes. not all work some have REALLY too much movement and are the bigger bulky ones. the ones i think mary and myself use are the smaller regualr size brushes that just 'buzz'. our husbands LOVE them and walk around all day with them til they wear out. the other bigger ones he doesnt like at all too much up/down movement. flossing is trickier but works in the shower if you get them to open up long enough. i also have a little spray bottle of watered down listerine and he sprays it during the day for fresh breath..its working for us so far. divvi
My husband stopped brushing his teeth before I started paying attention to which personal hygiene things he was doing and which he wasn't. He also gave up wearing his hearing aids in much the same manner.
Basically, because I have started paying attention, he does his own showers and uses his sponge and soap, he shaves himself (maybe a bit too often), he gets himself to the bathroom and he wipes when appropriate, etc. And he is still wearing his glasses. Basically brushing teeth and hearing aids tend to be early things for them to give up.
I told his dentist and we are just going to the dentist for cleanings more frequently. Me too because my cleanings are easier done 3 or 4 times a year too.
Because my husband does so many of these things for himself it is impossible to "help" him with the things he does not do. I was told by the Area Agency on Aging caseworker that he is uneven (able to do a lot of things for himself, but not speaking as well as you would expect) because he has Vascular Dementia and not Alzheimer's.
Starling, my husband has AD, but has aphasia, so he hasn't been able to talk much at all for over a year. Those five words, plus occasionally repeating a word I say is about it. Lois, my husband has Vascular problems as well, and had a stent put in his artery in his thigh several years ago. Whether he has VD or not, at this point, doesn't matter to me.....he's sinking, and will go under no matter what it is called. <sigh>
As far as teeth brushing, as Divvi says, that regular sized toothbrush that vibrates his almost constantly in his hand! However, he doesn't brush well, and only lets me at it if we are going somewhere. Like Starling, we're going to the dentist four times a year for teeth cleaning instead of 2.
my DH has been dx with VAD and or/combo vad/AD. i was also told they go hand in hand many times. IMO, they say both cause they (CYA)dont really know how to distinguish beside maybe the lesions on the pet/mri from mini strokes. the mini strokes may trigger onset of AD.. either way like said above, the outcome is the same. divvi
My husband absolutely hates taking showers and/or brushing his teeth. I mentioned it to his doctor,and she said some AD patients develop extreme tactile sensitiviy. I'm afraid if I could (?) manage to get him into the bathtub, I'd never get him out...so we focus on the shower, whatever it takes. Does anyone have one of those bathtubs with doors on the side. In Japan, bathtubs are much deeper rather than longer, and I've longed for one of those...with a door! Step in, sit him on his stool, close the door, fill the tub..ahhhhhh. Dream on, Nancy!
Does he floss and brush his teeth? Oh, yes, after every meal. He has become addicted to chewing gum and he only gets it when he brushes his teeth. The showers are really a problem and so is the shaving. I didn't know about all the nose hairs and hair growing out the ears until I really looked at him one day. No hair on the top of his head. Okay, men, is there an easy way to take care of this problem?
Nancy, a walk in tub has always been on my wish list :-). Unfortunately, they are way too expensive for my budget even with the $1000 discount some of the companies offer. I have a very nice garden tub that I can't use. Even if I could get in it, I couldn't get out even with the grab bar to grab on to.
It would have been so much easier to bathe Claude in a "dream" tub but thankfully we did have a walk in shower. In the last year, he could stand and I could help him. Later, he sat on a shower bench, and toward the end, he had to have "helmet" baths. In less than a year, he went from being able to shower and shave himself to "helmet" baths. The same thing was true of mouth hygiene. He wore dentures which he religiously brushed twice a day. It seemed like overnite, he couldn't remember how to take them out or put them back in.
Alzheimers/dementia or whatever it's called is a very horrible, degrading disease. Even tho I loved him so much and miss him terribly, I am glad he has passed on where he is in a much better place and pain free.
Mary, I understand. If we were able to build another new home, I'd have one installed ...as part of the builder's allowance. HOWEVER, I'm told that the cost of 'retrofitting' a bathroom with this type of tub is 3 times the cost of the tub itself. Imagine, having to remove the tub that was put in before the walls went up..Mine couldn't fit through the doorways now. Then new tile floor, wall repair, plumbing changes...It would be prohibitive - even if cost was no object.
I have visited retirement facilities and it's surprising they don't have tubs like that. There may be inherent problems we don't realize from the ads we read.
I love soaking baths, but I am so aware that I could seriously hurt myself getting out of the tub that I rarely indulge myself in such luxury. Just the thought of the 911 guys coming into the bathroom to pick up a slick wet naked 70 year old woman is enough to stick to the shower routine.
somewhat off topic-when I was making home nursing visits we had a 300 plus pounder who got stuck in the tub. Fire department was called to get him out. They had to take a door off the hinges to put him on to get him to the ambulence.
The question of is it vascular dementia or AD is easy in my husband's case. He had an EVENT. Multiple CPR, died at least 3 or 4 times in one day, an auto accident caused by the heart but including a head injury, and a pacemaker. Like I said all in one day.
There could be AD as well, of course, but the CAT scan showed the brain damage from the EVENT. And he had had an earlier event as well - a 9 hour cardiac surgery about 15 years earlier.
Starling, how horrible that accident was. It sounds like he came very close to being killed right then and there! Do I understand he had a heart attack that caused him to wreck the car? I hope no one else was hurt.