Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04211-w ORIGINAL PAPER Association Between Feeding Problems and Oral Health Status in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Beatriz Leiva‑García 1  · Elena Planells 2,3  · Paloma Planells del Pozo 1  · Jorge Molina‑López 2,3,4 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract A number of studies have been made of mealtime behavioral problems and food selectivity in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), though not from a multidisciplinary perspective where diet and dental care are investigated in children with ASD. In the present study, the parents of 55 children with ASD and 91 children with typical development (TD) between 6 and 18 years of age completed the Brief Assessment of Mealtime Behavior in Children (BAMBIC) and a food consumption frequency questionnaire. A pediatric dentist performed an oral exploration of the participants according to the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO). Food rejection and limited food variety were associated to an increased prevalence of malocclusion and altered Community Periodontal Index scores in children with ASD. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder · Mealtime behavior · Pediatric dentistry · Food selectivity Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a chronic neurodevel- opmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities (American Psy- chiatric Association 2013). The prevalence of ASD has increased in recent decades, particularly since the late 1990s. This increase is probably a consequence of the changes in diagnostic criteria of the disorder. The prevalence has con- tinued to increase especially among people without intel- lectual impairments, despite consistent application of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-V) (Baxter et al. 2015; Fombonne 2018; Wil- liams et al. 2006). Such individuals may be at an increased risk of sufering oral health problems because of their spe- cial circumstances and certain limitations referred to oral hygiene (Murshid 2014; Sarnat et al. 2015). Likewise, chil- dren with ASD usually present eating habits characterized by rejection and/or preferences for certain foods (Chistol et al. 2018; Gray and Chiang 2017)—a situation that may lead to malnutrition and oral disorders (da Silva et al. 2017; Kotha et al. 2018; Murshid 2014), thereby complicating their nutritional status (Liu et al. 2016; Malhi et al. 2017; Mari- Bauset et al. 2015). Certain restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests of individuals with ASD may be related to sensory characteristics, as well as to sensory processing and integra- tion difculties (Boudjarane et al. 2017; Castro et al. 2016; Curtin et al. 2015). In this regard, diferent authors (Bandini et al. 2017; Castro et al. 2016; Curtin et al. 2015; Johnson et al. 2014; Lockner et al. 2008) have suggested that certain sensory features may contribute to mealtime behavioral problems in children with ASD. As an example, food hyperselectivity is characterized by a narrow range of foods chosen by the child, * Jorge Molina-López jrgmolinalopez@ugr.es Beatriz Leiva-García bealeiva@ucm.es Elena Planells elenamp@ugr.es Paloma Planells del Pozo pplanells@odon.ucm.es 1 Faculty of Dentistry, Madrid Complutense University, Plaza Ramón y Cajal, 28040 Madrid, Spain 2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de la Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain 3 Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology. Biomedical Research Center, Health Sciences Technological Park, University of Granada, Avenida del Conocimiento—Armilla, 18100 Granada, Spain 4 Department of Physiology. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de la Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain