Dental caries experience, oral health status and treatment needs of dental patients with autism

Objectives

Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder. The aims of this study were toinvestigate whether children with autism have higher caries prevalence, higherperiodontal problems, or more treatment needs than children of a control group ofnon-autistic patients, and to provide baseline data to enable comparison andfuture planning of dental services to autistic children.

Material and Methods

61 patients with autism aged 6-16 years (45 males and 16 females) attending Dubaiand Sharjah Autism Centers were selected for the study. The control groupconsisted of 61 non-autistic patients chosen from relatives or friends of autisticpatients in an attempt to have matched age, sex and socioeconomic status. Eachpatient received a complete oral and periodontal examination, assessment of cariesprevalence, and caries severity. Other conditions assessed were dental plaque,gingivitis, restorations and treatment needs. Chi-square and Fisher''s exact testof significance were used to compare groups.

Results

The autism group had a male-tofemale ratio of 2.8:1. Compared to controls,children with autism had significantly higher decayed, missing or filled teeththan unaffected patients and significantly needed more restorative dentaltreatment. The restorative index (RI) and Met Need Index (MNI) for the autisticchildren were 0.02 and 0.3, respectively. The majority of the autistic childreneither having poor 59.0% (36/61) or fair 37.8% (23/61) oral hygiene compared withhealthy control subjects. Likewise, 97.0% (59/61) of the autistic children hadgingivitis.

Conclusions

Children with autism exhibited a higher caries prevalence, poor oral hygiene andextensive unmet needs for dental treatment than non-autistic healthy controlgroup. Thus oral health program that emphasizes prevention should be considered ofparticular importance for children and young people with autism.