Zahnmedizinische Versorgung von Kindern und Jugendlichen mit einer Autismus-Spektrum-Störung

With respect to the dental and oral health of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), international data and clinical experience show that oral and dental health problems with a corresponding need for treatment can develop as early as infancy. The primary cause is often typical ASD-related behaviour. Structured treatment procedures based on the known strategies of ritualization, taking the individual ASD-specific needs into account, can be used to provide dental care in the daily practice routine for a subgroup of children and adolescents with ASD while awake and with local anesthesia. At the same time, it must be accepted that the autism spectrum also includes another subgroup of persons who can undergo primary dental care involving the options of pharmacological sedation or general anesthesia. Consequently, prevention is of particularly high relevance in the dental care of this patient group, irrespective of the form of treatment.