Oral Hygiene Practices of the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Khan, Md. Haider Ali; Ahmed, Akhter Uddin; Raihan, Mahfuzur; Awal, Md. Abdul; Zaki, Mohammed Mahbub; Rahman, Haris Muhammad Waliur; Bhuiyan, Mohammad Sayeem Rahman

doi:10.5281/zenodo.14202051

Published January 2023 | Version v1

Journal article Open

Oral Hygiene Practices of the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

1. Senior Consultant, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka
2. Senior Consultant, 200 Bed Hospital, Kashimpur Jail, Gazipur
3. Associate Professor & Head Dental Anatomy, Ibrahim Medical College Dental Unit
4. Assistant Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Dhaka Dental College
5. Consultant,Department of Prosthodontics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University
6. Assistant Professor, Dept. of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics, Bangladesh Dental College, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
7. Medical officer, Dept. of Ora& Maxillofacial Surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

Contributors

Contact person:

Khan, Dr. Md. Haider Ali¹

1. Dr. Md. Haider Ali Khan, Senior Consultant, Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Email: rimjhimkhan3@gmail.com

Abstract

Over the past decade, autism has emerged as a major public health concern in many countries including Bangladesh. Many autistic children have sensory sensitivities that make it difficult to maintain an effective oral hygiene routine. This cross-sectional study was carried out among the children with autism to find out the oral hygiene practices in home care settings. The participants were selected purposively from three schools for the children with autism in Dhaka city. Total sample size was 237 children who participated willingly and whose parents gave data for the socio-demographic and oral hygiene practice of his/her child. A structured interview schedule was developed using the selected variables for obtaining the required information for the study. The average age was 12.06 (SD ± 3.314). In considering the sex distribution among the children, 203(85.7%) were male and 34(14.3%) were female, this might reflect the higher prevalence where the male and female ration of children with autism was 4:1. It was found that about 88(37%) children required physical support for tooth brushing, 135 (57%) children cleaned their teeth regularly and 76(32.1%) children used manual tooth brush. Most of the children, 165(69.6%) usually didn’t used any accessory materials other than brush and paste to clean teeth. It was found that 95 (40.1%) children brushed once daily, In considering the time of tooth brushing it was found that 57(24.1%) children brushed their teeth before breakfast, 14(5.9%) children brushed after breakfast and before going to bed tooth brusher were 24(10.1%). Findings suggest that children with ASD require long-term assistance with daily oral hygiene practices. Due to the uncooperative behavior and lack of self-care of autistic patients’ maintenance of oral health is very much difficult. Autistic children may arise difficulty in oral hygiene maintenance so the oral hygiene methods may need to be simplified or modified to suit the individual situation.