PromotionOral Health and Hygiene in people with ASD

Autistic people show a significant degree of oral health problems due to the difficulties and peculiarities they show in their behavior and communication. Targeted and specialized preparation and familiarization with the oral hygiene process as well as with the provision of preventive dental care services as well as access to trained dentists is required.

Based on the above needs, we designed and are implementing from June 2022, the program entitled "Promotion of Oral Health and Hygiene for people with ASD". For the implementation of the program, a multidisciplinary team was set up with members from the following organizations: Pediatric Dentistry Laboratory/Dental School of EKPA, Hellenic Dental Federation-Committee for Prevention and Promotion of Oral Health, Hellenic Pediatric Dental Society, Hellenic Society of Hospital Dentistry, Hellenic Society of Developmental Paediatricians, Autism Clinic/ Child Psychiatry Clinic EKPA Agia Sofia Hospital, as well as from the Scientific Documentation Department of the Child and Adolescent Center.

Purpose

The aim of the program is to promote the oral health and hygiene of autistic people with consequent improvement in the quality of life of themselves and their caregivers.

Goals

  • Informing their caregivers about ways to support and promote oral hygiene and care for people with ASD.
  • Raising awareness and informing mental health and rehabilitation professionals to support oral hygiene and dental care for people with ASD.
  • Raising awareness, informing and training dentists to be able to provide dental care (prevention and treatment) to people with ASD
  • Informing autistic people about the importance of dental hygiene and dental care and its characteristics.
  • The promotion of oral hygiene of people with ASD and their preparation for the provision of dental services.

Groups – Objectives

  • Autistic people and their parents / carers
  • Mental health and rehabilitation professionals working with autistic beneficiaries
  • Dentists / Pediatric Dentists / Special Care Dentists
  • General public

Actions

  • Registration on the autismap.gr website of dentists/paediatricians nationwide who have the training and serve or wish to serve people with autism
  • Creation of a digital manual – guide that will contain material to support the preparation and information for the visit to the dentist of the person with ASD, for use by parents/carers as well as the people with ASD themselves.
  • Creation of a digital manual – a guide that will contain material to support the preparation and information for the visit to the dentist of the person with ASD, for use by mental health and rehabilitation professionals.
  • Creation of a digital manual for the information and training of dentists
  • Participation in conferences/conferences (8th Panhellenic Congress on Autism, 7th Panhellenic Congress of the Hellenic Society of Hospital Dentistry & Special Dental Care, etc.).
  • Design and implementation of a study to record the knowledge, attitudes, skills of dentists/graduate students, caregivers, mental health professionals for the provision of dental services to people with autism
  • Design and implementation of research to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach in terms of a) user satisfaction, b) the effect on the application of oral hygiene and c) the effect on the provision of dental services.
  • Carrying out focused actions to promote and promote the Program "Promotion of oral health and hygiene of people with autism", its results and the produced material.

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