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Patient Management
Rachel Chang, DDS
Resident
University of Maryland School of Dentistry
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
Glenn Canares, DDS MSD
Residency Program Director
University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Purpose:
To investigate parental perceptions of sensory adapted dental environments (SADE), with the optional use of a weighted blanket, on children and youth with autism.
Method:
Twenty-five Paper surveys were administered in either English or Spanish for parents ages 18 or greater with children and youth with autism. Fifteen questions about parental perceptions were asked pre-appointment and 15 similar questions were asked immediately post-appointment. Participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale. For each appointment, the parent was offered the option of using a weighted blanket and/or music. Descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Sign test, and Mann-Whitney U test were utilized to analyze the data.
Results:
A total of 25 surveys were completed. No significant difference (P>.05) was found between the groups that said “yes” to weighted blanket and “no” to weighted blanket amongst the pre and post survey answers.
Conclusion:
The use of a weighted blanket did not appear to have a difference among parental perceptions for pre-appointment and post-appointment survey answers. Greater sample size will help validate the findings.