An Insight to Oral Health Condition and Management Strategies in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder is a group of neurodegenerative disorders that is caused by a physiological disorder of the brain which represents a change in its shape and structure and is characterized by difficulties with social interaction & communication and by restricted & repetitive behavior. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents with behavioral characteristics that can occur in the early developmental stages of individuals. Autism symptoms appear in the majority of children between the ages of 12 and 18 months. Early indicators of autism include challenges faced by the individual in making eye contact, being unresponsive to his or her name, having difficulty following another person's gaze or in pointing a finger to an item and having poor imitation with nonverbal communication issues. Because most parents are unaware of these "early" indicators of autism, majority of the children with autism do not receive a diagnosis until they reach the age of 3. Dental issues such as bruxism, non-nutritive chewing, tongue thrusting, masochistic behaviors, erosion, xerostomia, dental caries, gingival disorders and delayed tooth eruption are common in children with ASD. These children present with an unusual response to stimuli making it difficult for the parents/caretakers to maintain their child's oral hygiene and poses a challenge for dentists to operate on the child. Therefore, it is important to prevent or intervene in any kind of dental disease at an early stage. The current review article focuses on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the oral hygiene concerns they face, as well as describes the various therapy options for these individuals.