San Francisco School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Spec Care Dentist. 2024 May-Jun;44(3):837-844. doi: 10.1111/scd.12922. Epub 2023 Sep 12.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and stereotypical patterns of behavior. They are more likely to have tooth brushing issues and need help with routine dental care. Children with ASD could face difficulty in accessing dental care as the parents have a challenging task in finding a dentist that would treat the child with special needs. As a result, dental care is often neglected. The aims of this study are to evaluate oral hygiene practices and challenges in children with ASD and compare it with typically developing peers (TDP).
The sample size of the study was 60. Parents of children aged 3-10 were recruited and divided in 2 groups with 30 in each group. Age and gender of children were matched. ASD group included children with medical diagnosis of ASD only and no other co-morbidities. Children in TDP group had no diagnosis of ASD, and reported no disability, or any other diagnosis. Parents were asked to complete the questionnaire which asked about their demographic information, child's oral care regimens, and their knowledge about dental care. Chi-squared tests and t-test were used for statistical analysis. A p-value of .05 was used for determining statistical significance.
Many children with ASD (47%) had to travel more than 20 miles for their dental home compared to 13% with TDP (p < .05). Only 60% of children with ASD brushed twice a day with 70% of parents reporting that it is difficult to brush their child's teeth compared to TDP with 93% of children brush twice daily (p < .05). Significantly a smaller number of children with ASD (47%) allowed their parent to brush their teeth as compared to 93% of TSD children (p < .001).
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder travel longer distance to find a dental home and face more difficulty in maintaining their child's daily oral hygiene.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的特征是在社交互动、沟通和刻板行为模式方面存在挑战。他们更有可能在刷牙方面存在问题，并需要帮助进行常规的口腔护理。由于父母在寻找能够治疗有特殊需求儿童的牙医方面面临挑战，因此 ASD 儿童可能难以获得口腔护理。结果，口腔护理往往被忽视。本研究的目的是评估 ASD 儿童的口腔卫生习惯和挑战，并将其与典型发育同龄人（TDP）进行比较。
研究的样本量为 60 名。招募了 3-10 岁儿童的父母，并将他们分为两组，每组 30 名。儿童的年龄和性别相匹配。ASD 组仅包括被诊断患有 ASD 且没有其他合并症的儿童。TDP 组的儿童没有 ASD 诊断，也没有报告残疾或任何其他诊断。父母被要求完成一份问卷，其中包括他们的人口统计学信息、孩子的口腔护理方案以及他们对口腔护理的了解。使用卡方检验和 t 检验进行统计分析。p 值<.05 用于确定统计学意义。
与 TDP 组的 13%相比，许多 ASD 儿童（47%）去他们的牙科之家需要旅行超过 20 英里（p<.05）。只有 60%的 ASD 儿童每天刷牙两次，70%的父母报告说很难为孩子刷牙，而 TDP 组的儿童每天刷牙两次（p<.05）。有明显较少的 ASD 儿童（47%）允许父母为他们刷牙，而 TDP 儿童的这一比例为 93%（p<.001）。
自闭症谱系障碍儿童的父母需要长途跋涉才能找到牙医，并且在维持孩子日常口腔卫生方面面临更多困难。
