ORAL
CARE AND SENSORY SENSITIVITY IN CHILDREN WITH
AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDERS
1
University of Southern California , USA ;
2 Children's
Hospital Los Angeles , USA
Oral care is
integral to health and function. Children with disabilities
such as Autism
Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are at particular risk for
poor oral care.
This may be exacerbated by sensory sensitivities
common to children
with ASD. Sensory sensitivities are associated
with anxiety and
behavior problems, the greatest barrier to general
dentists’
willingness to treat children with disabilities. The purpose of
the study was to
ascertain if children with ASD, in comparison to
typical developing
children, have increased oral care difficulties, and
whether these
difficulties are linked to sensory sensitivities. Methods
included an oral
care survey that was completed by parents of 398
children, an ASD
Group (n=196) and Typical Group (n=202), ages 2-
18 years. Results
indicated that a significantly higher percentage of
children with ASD
experienced difficulty with almost all aspects of oral
care, in comparison
to TD children. Moreover, a significantly higher
percentage of
children in the ASD group experienced over-sensitivity
in each of the
sensory domains in comparison to typical children.
Within the ASD
group, 74% of parents of children with ASD reported
that their child
was “moderately-extremely” oversensitive to 3+
sensory modalities,
significantly more than parents of typical children
(15%). Among
children with ASD, being an “over-responder” to
sensory stimuli was
associated with difficulty with routine oral care in
the home and dental
office, self-stimulatory behaviors in the dental
office, and use of
restraint by the dental practitioner for routine teeth
cleaning.
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