A scoping review on parental/caregiver challenges in maintaining oral hygiene among children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: Dental practitioners must develop feasible and evidence-based strategies to help parents/caregivers successfully implement daily oral hygiene measures among their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Aim: This scoping review aimed to explore challenges faced by parents/caregivers while performing routine oral hygiene care among their children with ASD.

Design: A methodological framework recommended by Arksey and O'Malley and reporting guidelines prescribed by PRISMA-ScR were adopted. A database search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and ClinicalKey, to identify articles that addressed challenges faced by parents/caregivers while performing routine oral hygiene care for their children with ASD.

Results: The search yielded 4934 articles. Following the inclusion/exclusion criteria, nine articles were included in this scoping review. A qualitative analysis of included articles following the PICOS coding criteria revealed major themes. These consisted of various home oral hygiene practices followed by parents/caregivers, and challenges faced by them during home oral hygiene care owing to underlying sensory, behavioral, physical, and/or functional problems experienced by their children with ASD.

Conclusion: Challenges experienced by parents/caregivers of children with ASD were numerous, which resulted in deviations from routine oral hygiene practices from recommended guidelines for the prevention of dental caries.