Dental stories for children with autism

Purpose To investigate caregivers' preference regarding dental stories to prepare children with autism for dental visits. Methods Caregivers of children with autism were allowed use of dental stories available via different media (paper, tablet computer, computer) and image types (comics or drawings, photographs, video). Caregivers completed pre- and postintervention surveys. Fisher's exact tests were used to determine associations between predictive factors and preferences. Results Forty initial and 16 follow-up surveys were completed. Subjects were primarily male (85%). Mean child age was 6.7 years. Nine (64%) caregivers found the dental story useful for themselves and their child. Two (14%) caregivers found the aid only helpful for themselves. Preferred media type was associated with language understanding (p = .038) and home media preference (p = .002). Conclusions Practitioners should consider using dental stories to help prepare families and children for dental visits. Individual preferences for dental stories vary; using prior history can aid in selection.