Involving Parents to Improve Tooth Brushing for Autistic Children.

Summary

Parents of autistic children have reported a lack of understanding by oral health care staff around delivery of oral health preventive habits for their children.

This study aims to investigate if oral healthcare training utilising the Mini Mouth Care Matters (MCM) programme designed for Special Education Settings (SES) enhances parent confidence in their ability to influence their child's oral health, increases toothbrushing episodes and reduces challenging toothbrushing behaviour of autistic children.

The participants of this study will be parents of children who have a confirmed professional diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Parents will be recruited via healthcare professionals who provide oral health promotion within SES. Special Education Settings will be randomised into one of two groups. Group one will receive 'delivering better oral health' advice. Group two will receive the MCM user intervention guide for oral healthcare.

A maximum of 30 parents will be recruited into each intervention arm. A maximum of 60 parents will be recruited to the study.

Conditions

• Oral Health

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention

The PHE Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit has been developed with the support of the 4 UK Chief Dental Officers. This is a general population approach to Oral Hygiene advice and includes the following: Effective toothbrushing with a fluoride toothpaste is important to support oral health. The physical action of brushing removes plaque, which prevents gingivitis and periodontitis, and the fluoride in toothpaste is effective against tooth decay. The following key messages for the population include when and how to brush, specific habits associated with brushing, and, where necessary, assistance with brushing. There may be adaptations of toothbrushes, such as special grip handles, that are helpful to people who have limited manual dexterity.

BEHAVIORAL

Mini Mouth Care Matters guide for special Education Settings

2\. Oral hygiene guidance from a Clinical standard for autistic children and young people and/or those with a learning disability in special educational settings (Mini Mouth Care Matters Special Education Settings resources. This is a specific approach to providing Oral Hygiene for children with sensory challenges. This clinical standard supports the vision of universal access whereby everyone receives quality health services that meet their specific needs. The clinical standard is designed to be used by all those involved in improving health outcomes and quality of life, including eating, speaking and socialising, for autistic children and young people, and those with a learning disability in England. It is accompanied by a supporting package of tools, resources, and modules to support the delivery of the oral healthcare assessment (either face to face or remote) and to support teams in the development of complementary tailored mouthcare plans.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jennifer Parry, FDS RCS(Paeds) MDentSci BDS · Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-01-03

Primary Completion

2025-03-31

Completion

2025-03-31

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations