Qualitative study on barriers and coping strategies for dental care in autistic children: Parents' perspective.

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face challenges in home oral care, accessing a dentist and accepting dental treatment.

Aim: To determine the barriers to dental care for autistic children in Singapore through the experiences and opinions of their parents.

Design: A qualitative exploratory approach comprising semistructured interviews and a focus group discussion was used. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded into themes using NVivo 12 software.

Results: Participants were 23 parents of autistic children aged 3-12 years. The following barriers were identified: (1) Sensory, physical and parental knowledge issues are related to toothbrushing difficulties and use of nonoptimally fluoridated toothpaste in autistic children. (2) Accessing dental services was hindered by a lack of parental knowledge on the importance of an early dental home, parental apprehension about the child's acceptance of dental care, lack of information on specialised dentists and perceived high cost of dental visits. Parental suggestions for improvements included understanding the child's sensory profile, more information on finding a suitable dentist and subsidisation of costs for multiple acclimatisation visits.

Conclusion: Caregivers' education, information about specialised dentists and the availability of specific dental care resources for autistic children in Singapore are needed for optimising their dental care.