Strategies used for the outpatient dental care of people with autism spectrum disorder: An integrative review

Background: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder with early onset and chronic course. People with this disorder and their caregivers find it difficult to find dentists who provide adequate dental care. The aim of this review was to analyze studies published between 1999 and 2020, available in Portuguese, English or Spanish, on strategies that can be used for outpatient dental care for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: A survey was carried out in the Scopus and Medline databases, using the search strategy: (strategies OR approaches OR management OR system) AND ("dental care" OR "oral health" OR dentistry) AND ("autism spectrum disorder" OR autism). The inclusion criteria were: original articles on strategies that could be used for outpatient dental care for people with ASD, published between 1999 and 2020 and available in Portuguese, English or Spanish. Duplicate studies, publications not available in full, conference documents, review articles, books and documents from specialist publications were excluded. For the analysis of methodological quality, the adapted Critical Appraisal Skill Program (CASP) was used. Results: The following strategies stood out: visual aids, sedation, training programs, standard behavioral guidance techniques, continuing education directed at parents, resources related to the dental office and the traits of dentists. Conclusions: These strategies will be chosen depending on the level of skills and knowledge of the professionals, on their ability to work with specific resources, and mainly on the individual characteristics of the patient, since ASD manifests differently from person to person.