Autism is a neuro psychiatric disorder in children. Maintaining oral hygiene is difficult for children with ASD because of lack of cooperation, communication and understanding which leads to dental diseases specially dental caries.
Aim: To assess the point prevalence of dental caries in children with ASD in Kolkata, West Bengal and its correlation with dietary and oral hygiene habits of the children and sociodemographic variability of parents.
Materials and Methods: Special schools dealing with autistic children were selected randomly from the list of schools obtained from the internet and permission of respective
authorities were obtained. Caries status of the children were obtained using ICDAS II. A questionnaire form was distributed among the parents. The data was collected and subjected to statistical analysis.
Results: 83.2% children with ASD had dental caries as seen from the results and statistically significant relations were seen to be associated with socioeconomic status of the parents and dietary habits and oral hygiene habits of the children.
Conclusion: The study focusses on the need of conducting awareness programmes regarding maintenance of oral hygiene for the parents and caregivers of these children.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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