Relationship between Child Nutritional Status and Parental Knowledge with the Incidence of Dental Caries among Children at Kemala Bhayangkari 94 Kindergarten of Semarang

ABSTRACTBackground: An indicator for determining a person's dental and oral health status is the presence/absence of diseases in the oral cavity, one of which is dental caries. According to the 2018 Basic Health Research, the prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia was 88.8% with root caries of 56.5%. The incidence of dental caries among children aged 3-4 years and 5-9 years were 81.5% and 92.6%, respectively. Objective: To determine the relationship between child nutritional status and parental knowledge with the incidence of dental caries among children at Kemala Bhayangkari 94 Kindergarten of Semarang. Methods: This was a quantitative study with cross sectional design. The samples consisted of 48 children and 48 parents at Kemala Bhayangkari 94 Kindergarten. Results: There was a relationship between child nutritional status and the incidence of dental caries (p value = 0.003), and there was a relationship between parental knowledge and the incidence of dental caries among children (p value = 0.000). Conclusion: There was a relationship between child nutritional status and parental knowledge with the incidence of caries among children at Kemala Bhayangkari 94 Kindergarten of Semarang.Keywords: Dental caries, Child nutritional status, parental knowledge