Hubungan Kebiasaan Orang Tua Atau Wali dalam Membersihkan Rongga Mulut dengan Perubahan pH Saliva pada Anak Stunting Usia 2-5 Tahun di Kecamatan Medan Belawan

Abstract

Oral health is important in the life of every individual including children. The behavior patterns of stunted children in maintaining their oral health are still relatively low when compared to children with balanced nutrition. Stunting conditions can cause disrupted child development including developmental disorders in the oral cavity and stunted children are more susceptible to dental caries due to changes in salivary characteristics such as a decrease in flow rate and pH. The role of parents is needed in cleaning the child's oral cavity, therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between parental habits in cleaning the oral cavity of stunted children with changes in salivary pH with the bullet journal method. The type of research conducted was quasi-experimental with a pretest and posttest design. Data collection was carried out by filling out informed consent and questionnaires by parents and measuring salivary pH and filling out bullet journals which were carried out before and after providing education. The sample of children in this study were 30 stunted children aged 2-5 years with 15 boys and 15 girls. The research variables were tested with the Wilcoxon , t-test and Spearman tests. The results of this study showed a significant difference between the difference in parental knowledge before and after education (p = 0.000), a significant difference between parental behavior before and after education (p = 0.000) and a significant difference between salivary pH before and after education (p = 0.000). The results of the spearman correlation test showed a weak relationship between knowledge and salivary pH of stunted children obtained a value of (p = 0.388) and there was a moderate relationship between behavior and salivary pH of stunted children obtained a value of (p = 0.021).