COMPARISON OF ORAL HEALTH STATUS AND BEHAVIORS BETWEEN CHILDREN WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER AND HEALTHY CHILDREN IN RASHT CITY, IRAN

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, the caries experience, gingivitis and behaviors of6-12 year old children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) wereinvestigated according to the Frankl scale during dental examination, andthen compared with healthy children.Materials and Methods: Totally, 55 children with ASD (including 49 malesand 6 females) and 165 healthy children (including 83 males and 82 females)were assessed in Rasht, Iran. Before clinical examination, their parents wereasked to complete a questionnaire consisting of several questions aboutparental education level, nutritional status and oral hygiene status. Thenumber of decayed, missing and filled teeth, gingival status and behaviors ofthe children were recorded during the dental examination. The obtained datawere analyzed using Chi-square and Mann Whitney U Test. P-value less than0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Our results implied that the children with ASD had higherDMFT/dmft scores compared with healthy children (p