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My mom is in hospice care and needs a dentist and a haircut badly. What do I do about it? She cannot go out for these things. She has dementia and hallucinations.

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collegemom65: Pose your question to her hospice nurse.
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If she’s still at home, May be easier to learn to cut it yourself or try to find someone to come to the house for haircuts. Check with your local shops & see if someone is willing or with some of the senior services in your area. We learned to cut my dads hair.
As far as dentist, we had to give up on the dentist & just try to make sure we cleaned his teeth the best we can & use non fluoride paste since he couldn’t figure out how to spit it out anymore & little amounts of mouthwash like was mentioned earlier.
If it’s at the very end of life I understand everyone saying not to worry about it & just keep them comfortable. However some people are on hospice for quite awhile (my dads been on hospice with advanced dementia for about a year, my MIL was on for 5 years) & you can’t just stop taking care of their health. That only leads to more problems & possible pain with cavities, etc. Hospice aids should be helping with regular mouth care as well.
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My mom’s haircuts were not happening! So I went to youtube and learned to cut her hair. I am fortunate in that her hair is a little wavy so my mistakes are not seen. I actually found several ways and incorporated the best of all I saw. I basically just tell mom I am trimming her neck hair and then I trim the crown to about 4 inches, then I trim the rest of the hair by pulling it 90 degrees from her head and keeping the length around 4 inches. For the face, I gave her thin baby hair bangs ( to frame her face and trim the rest of her bangs longer to frame her face. It is just hair. I can do it pretty quickly now and have done it while waiting for her to finish going to the toilet. ;) For the mouth. If she has her natural teeth, get a silicone brush and put peroxidyl mouthwash on the brush and also use pointed qtips extra long dipped in the mouthwash to run along her gum line. My mom has permanent dentures-awful to clean because the food gets between the gums and the dentures which are not removable. This creates a terrible place for bacteria so the mouthwash cleanings are helpful and we also use the q tip to apply lidocaine ointment to the sore spots. We tried the water jets and she didn’t hold still for that. I do take my mom to the dental hygienist 2 or more times a year but I give her a valium prior to going so she doesn't get impatient and bite the hygienist. Love that little magic pill. We only give it to her for dental appointments because she is laying down. Hair appt were still to hard to do.
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Not sure why you would want to put your mom through stress for a haircut or dentist appointment if she is in Hospice Care? Your mom is nearing the end of life. Please keep her comfortable. Very sorry for your mom's declining health and your stress.
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Ask moms hospice nurse if they have anyone that will come out and cut your moms hair. I know that the lady that does my hair volunteers for our local hospice agency and goes out to cut peoples hair as needed, so I can only guess that other hospice agencies have volunteers that also do that.
And if your mom is under hospice care, I'm not sure why she would be needing a dentist now unless she has some kind of tooth infection, and hospice can prescribe an anti-biotic for that. Otherwise just make sure that you or someone is brushing her teeth real good.
And if your mom is in a facility often they will have dentists that will come to the facility so you can look into that.
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Ltracy Jun 8, 2025
Some people can be in hospice for quite awhile. My mother in law was on hospice for 5 years. My dad has been on hospice for a year with advanced dementia. Continues to decline, but death not eminent. We don’t want things getting worse by not taking care of his teeth & his teeth rotting & causing pain. Wouldn’t do any major work, but would rather prevent extra problems if possible.
It may be a similar case here.
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More info from your profile: "I am caring for my mother Edwina, who is 89 years old, living in my home with age-related decline, alzheimer's / dementia, anxiety, depression, hearing loss, incontinence, mobility problems, parkinson's disease, sleep disorder, urinary tract infection, and vision problems." You've posted several times on the forum for different issues since 2022... is your Mom still in a group home? How long has she been in hospice where is she in hospice and for what prognosis? Please provide an update for better context.
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