Development of oral health resources and a mobile app for caregivers and autistic children through consensus building.

Researchers created special dental health information and a phone app to help parents of autistic children. The app includes stories about going to the dentist (created with help from an autistic child), tools to make your own visual schedules, and ways for dentists to send messages to parents. Both experts and parents who tested the app liked it and found it helpful.

This study describes the development of oral health resources and a mobile app designed specifically for caregivers and autistic children. The researchers created educational materials addressing common knowledge gaps about oral homecare and dental visits. An autistic child contributed to developing two social stories demonstrating dental visits. The mobile app delivers these resources and includes features for creating customized social stories, visual schedules, and communication between dentists and parents.

Both the information materials and app underwent review by experts and parents, with anonymous testing by parent users. The feedback was positive from both expert reviewers and parent testers.

The study demonstrates feasibility of developing autism-specific oral health resources through collaborative design. The positive reception suggests potential for improving oral health knowledge and dental visit experiences. However, effectiveness studies are needed to determine clinical impact on oral health outcomes and dental visit success rates.

This appears to be a development and feasibility study rather than an effectiveness trial. Sample sizes for expert and parent reviewers are not reported. No quantitative outcomes or long-term follow-up data are provided. The abstract lacks details about specific feedback or validation measures used.

Caregivers of autistic children often lack knowledge regarding oral homecare and when and where to see the dentist. To address this need, we developed a series of information on oral health. An autistic child assisted in developing two social stories to showcase a dental visit. A mobile app was developed to deliver the above mentioned.

Other features include creation of customised social stories and visual schedule and an inbox to allow dentists to send messages to parents. The developed information and social stories were reviewed by experts and parents. The app also underwent anonymous and independent testing by parents. Overall the information and app were well received by the experts and parents.