Going to the dentist might have just gotten a little less scary for the estimated 1 in 68 U.S. children with autism spectrum disorder as well as children with dental anxiety, thanks to new research from USC.
In an article published on May 1 by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers from USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) examined the feasibility of adapting dental environments to be more calming for children with autism spectrum disorder.
“The regular dental environment can be quite frightening for children with autism who, not knowing how to react, tend to be completely averse to whatever we’re trying to do”, said one of the study’s authors, José Polido DDS, head of dentistry at CHLA and assistant professor at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC.
