Barriers to Professional Dental Care among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

ABSTRACT

Aims were to (1) investigate the parental difficulties toward their ASD children dental care and, (2) analyze factors influencing their access to such services. Questionnaires were completed by 142 mothers of ASD children. Children aged between 2.5 and 14 years old, with 3.91 male to female ratio. 68.3% perceived difficulties in finding dental care. Most barriers were Cost (75.4%), finding a dentist to treat ASD child (74.6%), and behavior of their ASD child (45.1%). There was no difference among age and "difficulty finding dental care" (p = 0.429). Having medical insurance and previous bad experience showed significant effects on the difficulty in finding dental care (p < 0.05). Children with ASD and their parents encounter various barriers to dental services.