Role of dental discomfort questionnaire-based approach in recognition of symptomatic expressions due to dental pain in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire (DDQ) could help to identify toothaches in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and Methods: This study involved sixty children between the age groups of 6-16 years, attending the day-care schools diagnosed with ASD. Five different groups of children were identified based on the presence of a toothache and/or carious teeth. The DDQ-8 was completed by parents and evaluated by a single examiner. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (SPSS version 17), and a correlation was observed between the total DDQ score and the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft-DMFT) score. Results: Analysis of the data showed that DDQ-8 had a significant correlation with that of DMFT score in a group 'with carious teeth but no toothache' (r = 0.497, P = 0.019) and group 'with carious teeth and a toothache' (r = 0.682 P = 0.043). A group 'without carious teeth where the parents were not sure whether or not the child had a toothache' had higher mean compared to other groups with DDQ-8 scores. Conclusion: There was a significant difference in the total mean DDQ scores when they were compared with that of the control group. Children with high DDQ-8 often had a high DMFT/dmft score. A significant correlation was found when the total DDQ-8 scores were compared with that of the DMFT score.