Ni Zhou1,2, Hai Ming Wong1, Colman McGrath3. 1. Paediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China. 2. Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry, The Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan, China. 3. Periodontology and Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Abstract
Toothbrushing is a routine practice for oral hygiene maintenance. It is also a challenging task for young children with special care needs. In this study, social stories were employed to teach toothbrushing skills for preschool children with special needs. Those children were recruited from the Special Child Care Centers, including 87 children with autism and 94 children without autism. A validated toothbrushing social story was used to demonstrate the toothbrushing procedure for all the recruited children. Parents were encouraged to show the stories to their children before or during their daily toothbrushing. Children's toothbrushing performance, oral hygiene status, and gingival health status were assessed at baseline and 6 months. Toothbrushing performance, oral hygiene, and gingival status of the recruited children were significantly improved after using social stories. Moreover, children with autism showed better oral hygiene status (P = 0.01) and better gingival status (P < 0.001) than their peers without autism. However, there were no significant differences in the toothbrushing performance among children with and without autism. The regression models indicated that the improvement of children's toothbrushing performance and oral health status were associated with children's intellectual functioning and parents' attitudes toward the usefulness of social story intervention. The principal findings suggested that social story intervention could be used to improve toothbrushing skills among children with or without autism, while it was more efficient in improving the oral hygiene status among children with autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 666-674.
Toothbrushing is a routine practice for oral hygiene maintenance. It is also a challenging task for young children with special care needs. In this study, social stories were employed to teach toothbrushing skills for preschool children with special needs. Those children were recruited from the Special Child Care Centers, including 87 children with autism and 94 children without autism. A validated toothbrushing social story was used to demonstrate the toothbrushing procedure for all the recruited children. Parents were encouraged to show the stories to their children before or during their daily toothbrushing. Children's toothbrushing performance, oral hygiene status, and gingival health status were assessed at baseline and 6 months. Toothbrushing performance, oral hygiene, and gingival status of the recruited children were significantly improved after using social stories. Moreover, children with autism showed better oral hygiene status (P = 0.01) and better gingival status (P < 0.001) than their peers without autism. However, there were no significant differences in the toothbrushing performance among children with and without autism. The regression models indicated that the improvement of children's toothbrushing performance and oral health status were associated with children's intellectual functioning and parents' attitudes toward the usefulness of social story intervention. The principal findings suggested that social story intervention could be used to improve toothbrushing skills among children with or without autism, while it was more efficient in improving the oral hygiene status among children with autism. Autism Res 2020, 13: 666-674.
Authors: Rachel M Fenning; Eric M Butter; Megan Norris; James Chan; Eric A Macklin; Kelly McKinnon-Bermingham; Charles Albright; Kevin G Stephenson; Jessica Scherr; Jacquelyn Moffitt; Amy Hess; Robin Steinberg-Epstein; Karen A Kuhlthau Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2022-07-14
Authors: Araxi Balian; Silvia Cirio; Claudia Salerno; Thomas Gerhard Wolf; Guglielmo Campus; Maria Grazia Cagetti Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-01-18 Impact factor: 3.390