The effectiveness of using visual pedagogy in dental check up and preventive dentistry for children with autism compare with autistic children without education

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the visual pedagogy method on the level of cooperation of the autistic children in dental checkups and preventive dentistry treatments. In this randomized clinical trial, the level of cooperation of 40 autistic children, aged 6 to 12 years evaluated for four purposes (Entering the dental surgery room and sitting in the dental chair, opening the mouth and showing the teeth, examination with mirror and fluoride therapy). The children recruited from Yavaran Zeinab autism center in Isfahan. Those were included in this study that did not have any systemic disease or motor disability except autism disorder. The selected children have been divided in two groups of twenty person of test and control group. Only the test group was trained by trainers. The test group has been educated using visual pedagogy method to learn about dental visit in two months. The findings shows that the repetition of dental visits has increased the amount of cooperation in (Entering the dental surgery and sitting in the dental chair, opening the mouth and showing the teeth, examining with mirror) and it can be claimed that the visual pedagogy method had no effect in the amount of cooperation in 3 purposes (Entering the dental surgery and sitting in the dental chair, opening the mouth and showing the teeth and examining with mirror), but the visual pedagogy method in fluoride therapy has been significantly effective in test group.

Esfahan University of Medical Sciences