Exploring the efficacy of behavioral skills training to teach basic behavior analytic techniques to oral care providers

Performing oral care procedures with children with autism who exhibit noncompliance can be challenging for oral care professionals. Previous research has elucidated a number of effective behavior analytic procedures for increasing compliance, but some procedures are likely to be too time consuming and expensive for community-based oral care providers to adopt. The purpose of this study was to use Behavioral Skills Training to teach dental hygiene students and staff to implement basic function-based behavior analytic strategies to reduce noncompliance and increase their success in performing oral care exams and cleanings in vivo. All participants rapidly acquired the techniques and used them effectively during exams and cleanings following BST, and skills generalized to their completion of an X-ray procedure with several children with autism. The number of steps attempted in all procedures increased relative to baseline for all participants.