Oral health among preschool children with autism spectrum disorders: A case-control study.
Autistic preschoolers in Hong Kong had healthier teeth and gums than peers, so shift dental focus to prevention of trauma and bite issues while using sensory or training tricks for kids who fear visits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Li et al. (2015) compared the teeth and gums of preschoolers with autism to matched kids without autism.
All children lived in Hong Kong and were about five years old.
Dentists counted cavities, gum bleeding, tooth wear, and other mouth problems for both groups.
What they found
Autistic preschoolers had fewer cavities and healthier gums than their peers.
Both groups showed the same amount of tooth wear, crooked bites, and mouth injuries.
Good news: the autism group was not at higher risk for most dental trouble.
How this fits with other research
Gandhi et al. (2022) and Corridore et al. (2026) extend these findings by showing how to keep kids calm in the chair. They prove that dim lights, soft music, or a short training program can turn scared autistic kids into cooperative patients.
Somers et al. (2024) moves the work into daily life, teaching kids to water-floss at home with backward chaining and video models.
Tse et al. (2020) and Tyagi et al. (2019) use the same matched case-control design but look at sleep instead of teeth. They find autistic kids sleep worse, while Y et al. find their teeth look better—an apparent contradiction that simply shows different body systems need different checks.
Why it matters
If you support autistic preschoolers, you can tell parents their child is less likely to have cavities, so focus dental visits on other issues like trauma or bite checks. Use the calm-room tricks from Gandhi et al. (2022) or the ESBA prep described by Corridore et al. (2026) if a child still fears the clinic. For daily care, borrow Somers et al. (2024) and teach water-flossing at home. Keep screening sleep and teeth on separate tracks—one can look fine while the other needs help.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIM: To assess and compare the oral health status of preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorders. METHODS: A random sample of 347 preschool children with autism spectrum disorder was recruited from 19 Special Child Care Centres in Hong Kong. An age- and gender-matched sample was recruited from mainstream preschools as the control group. Dental caries status, gingival health status, tooth wear, malocclusion, dental trauma and oral mucosal health were assessed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: It was feasible to conduct a comprehensive oral health screening among 74.1% (257) of the children with autism spectrum disorder. The mean age was 59 ± 10 months (range from 32 to 77 months), of whom 84.4% were males. Children with autism spectrum disorder had better gingival health than children without autism spectrum disorder (mean plaque score and gingival score p < 0.001). Children with autism spectrum disorder had less caries experiences than children without autism spectrum disorder (mean decayed, missing and filled surfaces and decayed surfaces, p < 0.05). Children with and without autism spectrum disorder had similar prevalence of tooth wear, malocclusion, dental trauma experience and oral mucosal lesions (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Differences in oral health status exist among preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Preschool children with autism spectrum disorder exhibited lower caries experiences and better gingival health than children without autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2015 · doi:10.1177/1362361314553439