Your ADHD guide to teeth brushing

Brushing your teeth is one of those simple, straightforward tasks that should be easy. Right? Nope!

For many adults with ADHD, dental hygiene can feel like an uphill battle - and a never-ending one - since you're supposed to face this twice a day for the rest of your life! It's an overwhelming thought that can cause ADHD paralysis. You know it's important, and you know you don't want cavities. You know it only takes a couple of minutes, and you technically have the time. But when it comes time to do it, you just feel frozen.

It's frustrating, it's annoying, and it's incredibly common for ADHDers and other neurodivergents.

The good news? You're not alone.

How ADHD can make it challenging to brush your teeth

There's a lot of reasons why ADHD may make it difficult to follow through with your dental routine. The structure and consistency required for good dental hygiene often clash with the way ADHD brains naturally operate. When it feels like everyone else can brush their teeth on autopilot, you end up feeling like you're the only one who struggles—however, let's take a look at how ADHD might be playing a role:

Motivation

• 🎯 ADHD brains like novelty, challenge, and things that are genuinely interesting.... brushing your teeth happens twice a day at around the same times, in usually the same location. It's repetitive and unexciting, so the motivation to do it is pretty low.
• 📺 When the motivation to do a task is low, it makes it harder for an ADHD brain to prioritize it over fun stimulating tasks. You might find yourself having difficulty task switching from watching TV or reading a book to brushing your teeth. Why would you want to pick something less fun? (Where can you find dopamine?)
• ⏰ Standing for two minutes in place can be repetitive and not fun, and standing at a sink for 2 minutes (or less) can feel like forever for some people with ADHD since their experience of time and their internal clock works differently.
• 🦷 The consequences aren't immediate. For most people, it's recommended you go to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning (assuming you go that frequently!). That means there are months at a time where no one is really checking in on your hygiene habits. With ADHD, you might feel a lot of pressure during the weeks leading up to your dental exam and follow through on all your teeth tasks then, but when the exam passes, you may struggle again.
• 🏆 Not only are negative consequences far away, there isn't an immediate natural reward for brushing teeth (unless you love the way clean teeth feel!) which means the pull to complete the task doesn't happen. Since ADHD brains like instant gratification, tasks that offer that may get prioritized over an unrewarding chore.

Memory & Inattention

• 🤔 Forgetting also happens. Sometimes it's not ADHD procrastination or that you are avoiding brushing your teeth, but it's actually that you forgot due to memory challenges. Whether you realize the next day or right as you crawl into sheets, it's frustrating that you didn't brush earlier or when you intended to. If you remember after the time you wanted to do it, it can be easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking that there's no point in doing it at all.
• 📱 You might also get distracted rather than procrastinating, like your phone ringing or your kid needing your help. ADHD is more about the difficulty of regulating attention, rather than a lack of it. The mental task-switching can make it difficult to return to the original plan (a task you may already not want to do), which leaves you angry you can't follow through on "simple tasks" like brushing your teeth.
• ❌ Didn't realize how low you were on toothpaste or thought there might be one night's worth of toothpaste left? ADHD inattentiveness and procrastination may create this type of situation! Now you've made it to the sink but don't have the items necessary to follow through. The option is to run to the store (you're already in your pajamas), which requires changing, getting in the car, finding the toothpaste you like, checking out, driving back, then coming back into the bathroom to brush your teeth again (nope!).

Overwhelm & Time Management

• 😫 Having too much to do and feeling overwhelmed means that some tasks get shifted to the next day or later, and sometimes that's brushing your teeth. If you are usually racing out the door to get to school or work on time, or exhausted at the end of the day trying to hop into bed, brushing your teeth might be the last thing on your mind.
• ⛓😬Have braces or trays? That's a whole other ballgame of time and steps that go into cleaning brackets or disinfecting mouthpieces. That's additional friction to getting the task done by making it more aversive to begin.
• 🔋Mental exhaustion can make it difficult to muster the energy even when your motivation is high. You want to, but it feels like you just can't—you're so mentally drained that you can't deal with extra tasks like brushing your teeth. Spoon theory is a great way of learning about how energy management works and a common way to describe what neurodivergent and chronic health condition energy management looks like!

Sensory Sensitivities

You may have certain sensory sensitivities that make brushing your teeth challenging: the feeling of the bristles, the texture of toothpaste, gum irritation, gag reflex, etc. There's a lot of things that might just feel unpleasant, making it hard or even emotional to try to brush your teeth.

Having ADHD doesn't mean you experience all of these things or any of them. These are just some ways that ADHD could be impacting brushing your teeth—some people with ADHD may not struggle with this particular habit but struggle with another hygiene task or in different life areas. Each person's experience and barriers are unique, but these are some common ones you might relate to!

Shame Around Oral Hygiene

Hygiene, in general, is very personal in nature. It's the way you take care of yourself and often considered "the basics," although it may not be simple or basic to complete. As an adult with ADHD, this societal perception—that basic hygiene tasks should be easy—and comparing yourself to others who seem to have no trouble maintaining their hygiene, can deepen feelings of inadequacy, like you're failing, or somehow less capable when you struggle to follow through on them.

These thoughts might sound like:

• "A child is able to brush their teeth, so why is it so hard for me?"
• "If I can't even keep up with brushing my teeth, what does that say about me as an adult?"
• "People will think I'm gross" or "I am gross."
• "How can I teach my kids to do this if I am not even doing this?"
• "I must not be capable since everyone else figured out how to do this."

If you feel ashamed or embarrassed about something, you may be less likely to tell anyone you are struggling with it, which means you aren't able to have collaborative conversations to find better ways forward. It creates a cycle of shame that keeps you stuck:

I can't tell anyone, they'll think I'm irresponsible —> You don't get additional tools and resources because you can't access additional information —> More time passes that you struggle —> I can't tell anyone that I've been struggling this long, they'll think I'm irresponsible.

This shame is part of the reason it's not common knowledge that ADHD can make brushing your teeth difficult (and other self-care and hygiene acts). Just like you may have a fear of being "found out," other people are also thinking the exact same thing and the struggle never becomes normalized or recognized. It can be very vulnerable to talk about struggling with brushing your teeth, but the more you keep these challenges to yourself, the more isolated you feel, and the harder it becomes to break free from the negative patterns. All you hear is your own self-criticism and judgment day in and out around this task, which might make it even harder to face.

I want to make it clear that it is okay to keep this a personal struggle and you do not have to share your relationship to brushing your teeth with anyone. You do not need to feel guilty for choosing to keep this private or feel pressure that you have to start talking about it now. What's right for you may be different for someone else and vice versa, the message is that you aren't alone.

Rather than focusing on the fact that it hasn't been going the way you wanted so far, let's shift to seeing what might support your teeth brushing habits!

Strategies for Tackling Teeth Brushing

Create a "Dental Menu" with the options you like from this list to come back to when you need to switch it up again! This dental menu might live in your medicine cabinet in your bathroom, taped to the mirror by your toothbrush, or live in your phone for quick reference.

Change it up

By adding a bit of fun and creativity to your routine, you can make brushing your teeth feel less like a chore. This honors the fun and novelty your ADHD brain might be looking for! Here are a few things you can do to switch it up:

• 🎨 Purchase a toothbrush in your favorite color or splurge and get a customized toothbrush: This one might seem very simple, but when something is personal or meaningful to you, it can make it more fun. Order toothbrushes that have your favorite encouraging quote on them or an image of a reward you'd like to get for brushing your teeth "X days in a row."
• 🎁 Set up rewards: Since there's not a natural reinforcement happening, you may want to set up a way to acknowledge your hard work of brushing your teeth with a reward: a favorite meal, an item you've been wanting to buy, or an activity you've been looking forward to doing!
• 🍊 Buy a new toothpaste flavor: Or purchase 3-4 flavors to cycle through or pick based on your mood. Ever just get tired of your toothpaste? This strategy helps you keep that boredom at bay for longer—plus you can get some flavors outside normal mint and cinnamon. Check out these flavors we found just with a quick search on Amazon! (Be sure to note what flavors you do and don't like so you know what to order again)
  • Lemon Lavender
  • Mint Chocolate
  • Peach Iced Tea
• 📱 Get a toothbrush that shows your progress with an app: It displays images of where you've already brushed, where you still need to, and how long you've been brushing for. If you love to see progress visually, this might be a good option for you! It reinforces the work you are doing by showing the teeth you've already gotten and gives you an estimate of how much farther you have to go.
• 🌑 Brush in the dark: Did you know glow in the dark toothbrushes exist? Turn night time into a child-like moment by staring at the glow of neon in the mirror. (This also helps if you realized you didn’t brush your teeth in the middle of the night and want to keep the lights off to avoid waking up.)
• 👥 Recruit a buddy: Body doubling works for teeth brushing too! If you aren't familiar with body doubling, it's essentially completing a task with someone else present for accountability. If you live alone, you can FaceTime a friend to brush your teeth and have an accountability partner or join a body doubling session like Shimmer's and set teeth brushing as one of your tasks to accomplish.
• 🏃‍♀️ Add some movement: If you find yourself getting antsy standing at the counter, give yourself permission to walk around while you brush or sneak in some quick exercise by doing 10 squats or lunges so you get two wins in one!
• ⚡ Race the clock: 10 seconds might feel manageable but struggling with "what's the point?" thoughts could be holding you back. Even brushing your teeth for ten seconds helps you build this habit up over time. To give yourself an extra challenge, you can set a timer for 10 seconds and try to power scrub as best you can in that time!

Convenience is key

When you set up your environment and routine to reduce friction, you can make it easier to stick to brushing your teeth, even when you aren't feeling up to it.

• 🚿 Combine it with showering: If it's easier to just try to do it all at once, keep a toothbrush in your shower to do all the hygiene things at the same time and use the momentum from one into the other. If you feel weird about keeping your toothbrush on a shower shelf, you may want to invest in a toothbrush caddy that sticks to the side of your shower to keep it hung up and dry when out of use.
• 🍽️ Kitchen sink: Brushing your teeth at any point during the day is better than not brushing your teeth at all! Keeping an extra toothbrush and toothpaste at your kitchen sink may encourage you to brush your teeth right after eating a meal or perhaps while you're waiting for food to cook.
• 🛏️ Nightstand: Always forgetting to brush right before bed? Keep a toothbrush on your nightstand and the visual cue of seeing the toothbrush before you hop in bed might be helpful. You can grab your toothbrush and head to the bathroom (or use a cup of water on the side of the bed—there's zero judgment here).
• 👜 Portable carrier: Pencil pouches don't have to just be for school kids—you can fill one up with dental hygiene products like floss and toothpicks to help you on the go! Or keep a bag in the car if you spend the night away a lot to have a backup plan to take care of your teeth.
• 🦷 Brush multiple teeth at once: We found this Y Shaped Toothbrush online that claims to work in 20 seconds, compared to 2 minutes of traditional brushing. It's on the expensive side ($100) and we haven't tried it to confirm, but this might be something worth exploring if you could see it fitting into your lifestyle!
• 💯 Brush the whole tooth at once: A three-sided toothbrush that sits slightly differently on your tooth attempts to brush the entire tooth at once, which can potentially reduce the time it takes!
• 🔄Work around braces: It is hard to keep your teeth clean with braces, but there are ways to reduce the amount of struggle to get those brackets clean. For example, using a toothbrush for braces which was made to dig into hard-to-reach spots, might reduce some of the frustration and make it easier to get this task done.
• 📦 Keep extra on hand: If you frequently find yourself running out of toothpaste or floss and that is a large barrier to creating consistency, it might be worth it to keep them in bulk and find storage options to keep them out of the way. If space is an issue, setting up a recurring subscription on an online marketplace can help make sure you always stay in stock.

Keep track of time

Creating reminders can help make sure you don't forget to brush your teeth, rather than just trying to remember it on your own. Here are some strategies you can try to support this!

• ⏰ Set daily alarms: Schedule alarms on your phone to go off at the same time each day or utilize an app that keeps track of your morning routine/what tasks you have to complete and in what order to ensure one doesn't get missed.
• 📝Use sticky notes: Place sticky notes in key locations like your bathroom mirror as a reminder. A simple "Brush!" in a bright color can serve as a visual cue—you can also use notecards or images of a toothbrush.
• 🔊Leverage Alexa: If you have a smart speaker, set a daily reminder with a voice command. You can program it to announce something like, "Time to brush your teeth!" at specific times if you're more likely to listen to an audio cue than a visual cue. (Just be mindful this might go off in a meeting if you have morning meetings!)
• 🔄 Habit stack: Pair toothbrushing with another daily task like washing your face or taking your medication. By linking the two, you create a routine where one action triggers the next and makes them easier to remember together.
• ✅ Habit tracking journal: Keep a habit-tracking journal where you check off each time you brush your teeth. The satisfaction of marking it done can help reinforce the habit over time to keep the streak going. You can keep the habit tracking journal somewhere you can review it morning and nightly, or keep a printout taped to the bathroom mirror for just toothbrushing—whatever works best for you!

Find a starting point

While society may say you have to brush your teeth twice a day and there are no alternatives, that might not be approachable for you in this moment. That is okay—doing something is better than doing nothing and something is always a win! With adult ADHD, it is about what works with your brain rather than against it. If two minutes of brushing your teeth doesn't feel achievable right now, you might be able to do something smaller or different as a starting point for habit building:

• 🧴Skip the tube: If one less step or two might do the trick, you could try using a pre-pasted toothbrush. This may be particularly handy for traveling and reducing space or throwing one in your bag or backpack.
• 〰 Floss: Flossing can help get rid of plaque buildup and lower your risk of tooth decay. These hard-to-reach spots are where the most destructive microbes live.
• 💦Waterpiks: If you have braces, a Waterpik may be especially helpful for cleaning hard-to-reach areas and be a little more friendly than trying to thread floss. You can also use this if you don't have braces!
• 🥄Wispies: This is one of the most used strategies by my clients who struggle with toothbrushing! Wispies are portable and can easily be used in a restaurant bathroom, at your desk, or watching TV.
• 🌊 Mouthwash: Quick swishes might feel the easiest to commit to and still get fluoride to help protect your teeth!
• 🍬 Chewing gum: I recently learned that chewing gum can help with dental care! Here's an article to learn more about the potential benefits.

Work with sensory needs

• 🌿Flavor: Try looking for an unflavored toothpaste if you find mint too strong or experience a burning sensation from other flavors.
• ☁️Texture: You can also try toothpaste tablets, foam toothpaste, or gel toothpaste that all have a slightly different texture which may be more appealing than the traditional paste from a tube.
• 💎Hardness: Purchase a new type of toothbrush to see if a different texture handle or different density of bristles makes the difference. Many people end up looking for extra soft textures to avoid it feeling rough or feeling "loud" against your teeth.
• Approach: Take a look through the "Find a starting point" section to see if there's an alternative hygiene action you can take that is sensory friendly for you!

Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list of ADHD-friendly potential paths forward to support your teeth brushing habits; this is just a starting point of some things to think about and what directions you could head. The most important thing is to pause and consult with your ADHD brain about what might be going on and tailor your approach accordingly. For example, you may also want to explore how to create friction around other activities happening at the time you're looking to brush your teeth if you notice there are certain things that seem to always pull your attention. One of ADHD's strengths is creativity, so this is the time to let that shine to get inventive with what you can do next!

Conclusion

Building a habit isn't always easy and takes a lot of intentional work, but it absolutely is possible to find what works with your ADHD brain—it's just a matter of finding the right system to support you. Part of navigating adult ADHD is developing self-compassion when there is a challenge. It might take some experimenting to find the right options for you, and you might find something works for a while and then you need to switch it up again; that's okay! The ADHD brain loves new things and there's another option you'll find to keep squeaky clean teeth.

If you feel like you may need additional help with finding the right routine, or all these potential options are overwhelming (there's a lot of them and not all of them are even listed!), you may want to work with an ADHD Coach who can learn more about your current routine and help you create a custom strategy that's right for you.

This article is not a substitute for medical advice from your dentist or primary care provider. The strategies and suggestions provided are intended to complement your existing dental care routine and should be tailored to your specific needs with consultation from your providers. Seek personalized guidance from your healthcare professionals to ensure the best outcomes for your oral health.

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