TreeHouse, the national charity for autism education, is appealing to the dental community for funds towards constructing a permanent National Centre for Autism Education.
TreeHouse runs a special school for up to 80 pupils with severe autism and its dental care programme aims to introduce pupils to basic dental hygiene and accustom them to having their teeth looked at by a community dentist (who offers her time free of charge).
It claims the positive impact of this 'desensitisation' to the dentist and the dental chair has been enormous as visits to the dentist can be particularly traumatic for children with autism.
It adds that children with autism may have erratic eating habits making dental hygiene a concern and be unable to tolerate any sort of 'intrusion' into their mouths with a toothbrush. Due to their difficulties in communicating they may not be able to tell anyone when they have a toothache.
TreeHouse is currently based in temporary accommodation and to ensure the ongoing success of its dental care programme, needs support to provide a fully equipped dental suite in the new building. For further information on how you can help, please visit
