Correlation between Parents' Knowledge of Calcium Foods and Dental Caries Experience in Preschool Children

Problem statement: The prevalence of caries in Indonesia in children aged 3-4 years is 81.5% with a def-t score of 6.2 and the prevalence of caries in children aged 5 years is 90.2% with a def-t score of 8.1. Preschool children are prone to dental caries, one of the dental and oral health service efforts that can be done is in the form of preventing dental and oral diseases. It has been found that foods and drinks containing calcium can help prevent dental caries. Purpose: This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between parents' knowledge of calcium-based foods and the dental caries experience of preschoolers at IT Al-Hikmah Kindergarten, Cirebon City. Method: This study used a cross-sectional design. The population in this study were all children and parents of TK Al-Hikmah Cirebon City with a total sample of 60 parents and 60 children. Analysis of the results of the study using the Spearman rank test. Results: The majority of parents' knowledge about calcium-based foods was good (55%) and the category of dental caries experience for preschoolers was very low (26.7%). Parents with good knowledge and their child's caries experience rate is very low (21.7%). The Spearman rank test results have a significance value of 0.00 and a correlation coefficient value of -0.580. Conclusion: there is a significant relationship with moderate strength and not in the same direction between parents' knowledge about calcium foods and preschool children's caries experience.