Treatment of oro-facial hypersensitivity following brain injury

A 56 year old man who was 10 months post-severe traumatic brain injury was unable to tolerate oral hygiene. He had oro-facial hypersensitivity, oral dyspraxia and limited oral function. Poor oral hygiene with coating of oral structures and infection was present. An intensive systematic desensitization programme over 2 weeks, even at this late stage post-injury, increased oral tolerance and allowed full oral hygiene. Participation in oral hygiene and functional patterns of movement also improved, enabling some oral nutritional intake. This case study provides controlled evidence, very little of which exists in the literature, to demonstrate the effectiveness of these treatment techniques.