Tooth brushing training in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Tooth brushing is a self-care daily activity that is easy to learn for normal children. Teaching tooth brushing to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) need a special strategy since children with ASD have limitation in communication, language, and interaction. Children with ASD have a preference for learning with the visual method. The aim of this research is to explore the evidence base of structural-visual strategies in teaching tooth brushing in children with ASD. An electronic search was performed in 3 databases: PubMed, Cochrane, and PsycINFO. Two authors selected the articles, and the third author was involved in deciding eligible articles. A total of 31 publications were considered after the electronic search, 28 of which were included after removing 3 duplicate articles. Twelve articles were included after the title and abstract review, and finally, after reading the full text, 9 articles were included in this study. The study concludes that the structural-visual learning method is appropriate for teaching tooth brushing in children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]