Efficacy of Desensitization for SHCN Children at First Dental Visit

Objectives: The goal of this study was to examine potential associations between patient characteristics and tasks completed during the first dental visit, as measured by a task analysis score (TAS).
Methods: IRB approval was received for this study. Caregivers of patients attending a special needs clinic completed a pretreatment form collecting demographics, health information (i.e. services received, co-morbidities, at home dental care), and behavior (i.e. ability to communicate, level of cooperation). During visits at the clinic, patients undergo desensitization treatment using task strips. Descriptive statistics (N=197) and t-tests were calculated to examine patient health and behavior characteristics on the primary outcome variable: number of tasks completed as measured by the TAS, a quantitative tool to measure the efficacy of desensitization during dental visits; scores range from 0-100, with higher scores representing more tasks completed.
Results: Most patients were diagnosed with ASD (95.9%). Patients received speech therapy (54.7%), followed by occupational therapy (OT; 8.2%); 39.6% had speech delay, and 25.9% reported developmental delay. The mean TAS score was 80.2 (SD=20.8). Those receiving occupational therapy completed significantly fewer tasks (77.3 versus 82.8, p=0.03). In terms of communication, non-verbal children also completed significantly fewer tasks (74.0 versus 83.60, p=<0.001), as well as those reporting use of sentence boards (68.1 versus 81.60, p=0.002) and sign language (71.7 versus 81.1, p=0.03). At home dental care and behavior items did not yield significant differences.
Conclusions: Children receiving OT services and those reporting the use of non-verbal communication had more difficulty completing tasks during the first visit. These results suggest that collecting pretreatment data in advance can be useful for providers in order to tailor treatment during the first visit based on the child’s specific needs.