Introduction

The purpose of this tutorial is to:

• To help families and health educators recognize the importance of oral home care in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the associated challenges.
• Solutions for better oral home preventative care, injurious behavior, medications, and feeding challenges
• We will also look at the challenges we face as we strive to treat those patients.
  • Part I: Challenges in preventive care
  • Part II: Challenges with behavior management
  • Part III: Challenges with medications
  • Part IV: Challenges faced in feeding

Amount of cavities in children with ASD are higher than the numbers seen in American children, and children with ASD can be more difficult to treat due to behavior management and sensory disorders.