Identifying Gaps in Oral Care Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Latinx Parents/Caregivers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Floríndez, L., Como, D., Floríndez, D., Vigen, C., Floríndez, F. M., & Cermak, S. (2021). Identifying Gaps in Oral Care Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Latinx Parents/Caregivers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders. Health Equity, 5(1), 185-193. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2020.0078

Publication date: 1 Apr 2021 Added to AutiHub: 18 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)
  1. Lucía Floríndez
  2. Dominique Como
  3. Daniella Floríndez *
  1. Cheryl Vigen
  2. Francesca M. Floríndez
  3. Sharon Cermak

Abstract

Purpose: This pilot study used data from a survey to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about oral care of Latinx parents/caregivers of children with or without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to identify gaps to focus future intervention. Methods: Sixty English-speaking Latinx parents/caregivers who had a child between 4 and 14 years with or without ASD (n=31 ASD, n=29 typically developing [TD]) completed a questionnaire on oral health knowledge, practices, access to care, and demographics. Caregiver responses were compared, and gaps in knowledge and practices were identified. Results: There were no significant differences in parent age, child age, income, insured status, or overall knowledge scores, only a significant difference in education (p=0.02), with the ASD group reporting less. Scores for knowledge, attitudes, access and practice were all nonsignificantly positively correlated, as was attitudes with access and practice. However, knowledge and attitudes were significantly negatively correlated. Additional significant findings were parents who had lower income and education, had lower oral knowledge scores, decreased frequency of dental visits, increased feelings of being discriminated against, children with increased fear of the dentist, and decreased ease of finding a dentist. Conclusion: Factors such as income, education, ethnicity, and having a child with ASD can influence what Latinx parents and caregivers know about oral health and how their children experience receiving dental care. Latinx parents/caregivers of children with and without ASD report barriers to dental care, including difficulty attending visits or feeling stigmatized by their dental provider due to their ethnicity. Fear of the dentist is significantly correlated with ASD diagnosis and lower social demographics of the parent, and may contribute to a reduction in preventative oral care visits as well. Health care providers should consider these perspectives when providing care to this population to mitigate further oral health inequities.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 28 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
47
With a DOI
35
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
7
2 / 47 (4.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
7 / 47 (14.9%)
References with detected author names
47 / 47 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
7
Without a stable identifier
7
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
243
From DOI or external metadata
243
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
30 / 243 (12.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 213 / 243 (87.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 243 (0.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 30 (6.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 209 (0.5%).
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