Relationship Between Mother And Child Behavior In Maintaining Dental Health With The Incidence Of Caries (Study Of Preschool Children At Al-Masyithoh Pati Muslimat Kindergarten)

Background: Dental caries is still a priority issue in children’s health. The high prevalence of caries in children is partly due to the lack of maternal behavior in maintaining oral health, as well as a child’s diet. This study aims to analyze the relationship between mother and child behavior in maintaining dental health with the incidence of caries in children. Methods: This type of research is analytically observational with a cross-sectional approach. The sample consisted of 73 children aged 3-5 years and the respondents were the mothers of the sample. Sampling used a proportioned stratified random sampling technique. Collecting data using observation sheets and questionnaires. Univariate and bivariate data analysis (Rank Spearman). Results: The results showed that 75.3% of mothers had good knowledge, 100% of mothers had a supportive attitude, 68.5% of mothers had good actions, 93.2% of children had cariogenic food consumption habits, and 58.9% of children had caries in the very high category. There is no relationship between maternal knowledge (p-value 0.942 > 0.05) and maternal attitude with caries incidence (p-value 0.816 > 0.05), there is a relationship between maternal actions (p-value 0.000 <0.05) and children’s habits of consuming cariogenic foods with caries incidence (p-value 0.004 <0.05). Conclusion: Maternal knowledge and attitude in maintaining dental health have no relationship with the incidence of caries in children, while maternal actions and children’s habits of consuming cariogenic food are related to the incidence of caries in children.