Objectives: To (i) determine the prevalence of dental caries among Autistic Children attending a special needs school in Johannesburg; (ii) determine the Unmet Treatment Needs (UTNs) in this cohort (iii) to compare the dmft and Significant caries index (SiC) scores
Methods: This Cross Sectional analytical study comprised of 126 children attending an autistic public school. Convenience sampling of children was done on the basis of informed consent granted by parents. Caries status was recorded via the dmft index using WHO criteria and guidelines. dmft scores were ranked in a descending order and the top one-third was analysed independently to determine the Significant Caries Index (SiC).
Results: The mean age of the 126 participants was 8.3 years (sd 2.58 age range 3-15 years old). A caries prevalence of 40.5% in the primary dentition (mean dmft 1.57 sd 2.5; SiC = 4.36; p= 1.77 ) was found. The unmet treatment needs was almost 98% in this cohort.
Conclusion: Children with autism had a high caries burden and significant unmet treatment needs that appeared to be evenly distributed among these individuals.