Oral Health Care Guidance to Enhance Parent Confidence and Ability to Improve Toothbrushing Performance for Autistic Children
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrollment
- 48
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- The 13-step toothbrushing assessment tool
Study Overview
Brief Summary
Parents of autistic children have reported a lack of understanding by oral health care staff around delivery of oral health preventive habits for their children.
This study aims to investigate if oral healthcare training utilising the Mini Mouth Care Matters (MCM) programme designed for Special Education Settings (SES) enhances parent confidence in their ability to influence their child's oral health, increases toothbrushing episodes and reduces challenging toothbrushing behaviour of autistic children.
The participants of this study will be parents of children who have a confirmed professional diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Parents will be recruited via healthcare professionals who provide oral health promotion within SES. Special Education Settings will be randomised into one of two groups. Group one will receive 'delivering better oral health' advice. Group two will receive the MCM user intervention guide for oral healthcare.
A maximum of 30 parents will be recruited into each intervention arm. A maximum of 60 parents will be recruited to the study.
Detailed Description
Description of the Intervention:
The first national dental health survey for special schools in England shows that:
- At ages 5 and 12, compared to previous surveys in mainstream education, the proportion of children in special education with substantial plaque visible is almost double.
- Children aged 5 in special schools were twice as likely to have had one or more teeth extracted.
The Office of the Chief Dental Officer Special Education Settings Team has developed resources which focus on prevention for better oral health for children with learning disabilities, autism or both. Resources include information and tips to help parents and carers with frequent concerns such as: Am I using the right toothpaste? Have I got the right toothbrush? Is the environment right? Am I doing it right? The resources are available on the HEE hub e- Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) through the link Mini Mouth Care Matters (Mini MCM) Special Education Settings (SES).
The participants of this study will be parents recruited through contact with Special Educational Settings designated for oral health promotion activity from the Special Care Dental Service. Parents invited to be included in the study will be parents of children aged 3 to 15 years, with a confirmed professional diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Parent/Carer of an autistic child aged between 3 and 15 years Parent/Carer of an autistic child attending a Special Education Setting Parent/Carer with capacity to provide consent
Exclusion Criteria
- •Parent/Carer that cannot adequately understand verbal explanations or information written in English
Arms & Interventions
Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention
The PHE Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit has been developed with the support of the 4 UK Chief Dental Officers. This is a general population approach to Oral Hygiene advice and includes the following: Effective toothbrushing with a fluoride toothpaste is important to support oral health. The physical action of brushing removes plaque, which prevents gingivitis and periodontitis, and the fluoride in toothpaste is effective against tooth decay. The following key messages for the population include when and how to brush, specific habits associated with brushing, and, where necessary, assistance with brushing. There may be adaptations of toothbrushes, such as special grip handles, that are helpful to people who have limited manual dexterity.
Intervention: Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention (Behavioral)
Mini Mouth Care Matters guide for special Education Settings
Oral hygiene guidance from a Clinical standard for autistic children and young people and/or those with a learning disability in special educational settings (Mini Mouth Care Matters Special Education Settings resources. This is a specific approach to providing Oral Hygiene for children with sensory challenges. This clinical standard supports the vision of universal access whereby everyone receives quality health services that meet their specific needs. The clinical standard is designed to be used by all those involved in improving health outcomes and quality of life, including eating, speaking and socialising, for autistic children and young people, and those with a learning disability in England. It is accompanied by a supporting package of tools, resources, and modules to support the delivery of the oral healthcare assessment (either face to face or remote) and to support teams in the development o
Intervention: Mini Mouth Care Matters guide for special Education Settings (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
The 13-step toothbrushing assessment tool
Time Frame: baseline and immediately after the intervention
The 13-step assessment tool identifies steps completed by parents or children, or steps not possible to complete. Parents will also be asked to record time spent toothbrushing.
The validated Parental-Caregiver Current Oral Health Behaviours Questionnaire (OHBQ).
Time Frame: baseline
The OHBQ has been developed to measure attitudes and beliefs of parents around their child's dental health. A section to capture demographic data, with questions utilised in previous studies, has been incorporated in the questionnaire sheet above the OHBQ to explore oral health inequalities associated with socioeconomic status, which are widely observed in the literature6.
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported