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Review
. 2022 Sep 27:3:998831.
doi: 10.3389/froh.2022.998831. eCollection 2022.

Insights on dental care management and prevention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What is new?

Nicoletta Zerman  1 , Francesca Zotti  1 , Salvatore Chirumbolo  2 , Alessandro Zangani  1 , Giovanni Mauro  3 , Leonardo Zoccante  4
Affiliations
Review

Insights on dental care management and prevention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What is new?

Nicoletta Zerman et al. Front Oral Health. .

Abstract

Autistic subjects represent a severe concern to dentistry due to the considerable difficulty in managing their oral health, maintaining routine toothbrushing, and preventing dental and periodontal problems. The social and economic burden of managing dental care in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children is particularly cumbersome for families and public and private health expenditure, especially when children reach the dentist following a late diagnosis with evident oral health problems. An early diagnosis of ASD helps dentists better address these children's oral health. Unfortunately, insufficient attention is paid to the training and education of general pediatricians, dentists, and dental hygienists, allowing them to get to approach the different clinical aspects of ASD. Usually, children diagnosed with ASD are scheduled for dental appointments like their neurotypical peers, whereas their needs are typically complex and personalized. Scant attention is also devoted to these patients by commercial manufacturers of dental products and devices for oral hygiene and prevention of caries and periodontal diseases, leaving parents without the support and often failing when they address the oral health of autistic children. The difficulties of oral care do not derive simply from the behavior of ASD patients, as is commonly assumed, and therefore cannot be overcome solely by the patience and attention of parents and dentists. Genetics, dietary habits, sensory impairments, and cognition disorders are other causes contributing in various degrees to the impact on the mood and psychological reactions of autistic children towards dentists. How can we prevent teeth caries, periodontal disorders, and other oral health impairments by properly managing ASD children? This manuscript gives an up-to-date overview of these problems and helps to provide good remarks.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder (ASD); dentist education; dentistry; music therapy and autism spectrum disorder; oral health / hygiene; prevention; telehealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA model of our research study. See text for details.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PICO framework of the search study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Rob (risk of bias) for the studies reported in Table 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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