Abstract: PURPOSE: To understand the cognitive level of parents of children with autism towards their oral health behaviors and oral health care, and to provide assistance in developing better oral health plans for children with autism. METHODS: Totally 117 children and parents with autism who visited our hospital from January to December 2018 were selected as the experimental group,while 121 non-autistic children during the same period were selected as the control group, the children's oral hygiene was checked. Questionnaire survey was conducted on the oral health behaviors of pediatric patients, including daily brushing frequency, use of toothpaste, assistance from parents in brushing teeth, and frequency of snacking. At the same time, standardized measures were adopted to evaluate the oral health knowledge of parents, obtain their level of understanding oral health-related knowledge, and record the basic situation of parents. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The proportion of children with autism who have dental caries and periodontal health problems was relatively high, at 74.36% and 52.14%, respectively. Most pediatric patients had poor oral health behaviors, with a low proportion of brushing teeth ≥2 times per day and consistently using toothpaste, accounting for 17.09% and 13.68%, respectively. In addition, the score of oral health knowledge of parents of children in the experimental group [(6.40±2.55)] was lower than those in the control group [(6.95±2.47)], but there was no significant difference (P>0.05). 93.16% of the children in the experimental group were taken care of full-time by their mother (72.65%) or father (20.51%), and most of the patients's income was not high. The main caregivers and their education level, family income in the control group were significantly different from those in the experimental group (P<0.05). Factors affecting the oral health of autism patients included brushing habits, primary caregivers and parents' highest level of education. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of autistic children have a poor understanding of their children's oral health behaviors, as well as health care. Therefore, education of oral health towards the parents of children with autism should be strengthened with the aim of improving their awareness of oral health and jointly maintaining their health.

Key words: Autism, Oral health behavior, Oral health knowledge