Psychological behavioral therapies to improve autistic children's behaviors during dental visits: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Researchers looked at 18 studies to see if special behavioral techniques help autistic children behave better at the dentist. They found that about half of children could cooperate with dental exams on their first visit, with slightly more cooperating on their second visit. However, most techniques like visual aids, communication systems, and behavioral programs didn't show clear benefits. The studies were too small and poorly designed to give us strong answers about what really works.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined 18 studies investigating psychological behavioral therapies to improve dental visit behaviors in autistic children. Results showed 56% of children could cooperate with dental examinations using an oral mirror on their first visit, increasing to 64% on the second visit. However, visual pedagogies and teaching aids showed no significant improvement in acceptance rates. Other interventions including TEACCH, PECS, Applied Behavior Analysis, video modeling, and distractions produced inconsistent results.

The studies had significant methodological limitations including small sample sizes, lack of control groups, and failure to account for autism severity, comorbidities, or previous dental experiences, limiting the strength of evidence.

Current evidence provides insufficient guidance for selecting effective behavioral interventions for dental visits in autistic children. Clinicians should consider individual factors like autism severity and previous experiences. Repeated exposure may provide modest benefits, but more rigorous research is needed to identify evidence-based approaches.

Studies had small sample sizes, lacked control groups, and failed to account for autism severity, comorbidities, or previous dental experiences. These methodological limitations significantly weaken the reliability and generalizability of findings.

This research review looked at how well different psychological behavioral therapies help improve the behavior of autistic children during dental visits. The researchers studied 18 different studies and found that, on average, about 56% of autistic children were able to cooperate with a dental exam using an oral mirror during their first visit. The number increased to about 64% during their second visit. However, using visual pedagogies or teaching aids did not seem to make a big difference in how many children could accept the dental exams.

The results for other psychological behavioral techniques were also inconsistent, including Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped CHildren, Picture Exchange Communication System, Applied Behavior Analysis, video modeling, and distractions. Many of the studies were small and did not include a comparison group. They also did not consider factors like how severe the autism was, other conditions the children had, or their previous dental experiences. Because of these limitations, the evidence supporting the use of psychological behavioral techniques to improve dental visits for autistic children is limited and uncertain.

More research with larger studies and proper control groups is needed to better understand this topic.