371 - Impact of Early Autism Therapy on Caries

Impact of Early Autism Therapy on Caries

Purpose: This study investigates whether early autism therapy impacts caries incidence in children with autism

Method: Participants in this study will be children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder aged 12 and older and seen in the dental clinic between January 6, 2025 and April 1, 2025. During the patient’s appointment, parents will be given a survey asking about their child’s autism diagnosis, age of diagnosis, and age at which autism therapy was initiated. DMFT scores will be calculated for each patient by examining the patient’s dental chart from their last periodic exam.  Multiple regression analysis will be used to examine the association between age at autism therapy initiation and caries incidence as well as the association between type of autism therapy initiated and caries incidence before and after adjustment for confounders.

Results: The results are pending. However, it is expected that engagement in autism therapy early in life, before 6 years of age, will have a positive impact on oral health in these patients and decrease the incidence of caries.

Conclusions: The results of this study are expected to suggest the beneficial effect of early diagnosis and initiation of autism therapy for the dentition and oral health in children diagnosed with autism.  The information from this study can be used by dentists and other health care professionals when counseling parents of children diagnosed with autism.

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