GARLING WITH A SOLUTION OF ACACIA CARPA HONEY SOLUTION OF 10% CONCENTRATION ON THE DEGREE OF SALIVA ACIDITY AND THE TOTAL PLATE COUNT (TPC) OF THE NORMAL FLORA OF THE ORAL CAVITY IN CHILDREN

Saliva functions as a buffer that can prevent a decrease in pH or an increase in mouth acidity. Alcohol-free mouthwash containing herbs using honey solution which is made from natural ingredients and is safe for children can be used as an appropriate preventive measure to maintain oral hygiene. The normal flora of the oral cavity consists of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, mycoplasma, protozoa and possibly viruses. The aim of the research was to analyze the effect of gargling with a 10% concentration of Acacia Carpa (Acacia Crassicarpa) honey solution on the degree of saliva acidity and Total Plate Count (TPC) of normal oral flora and Gram bacteria in children aged 8-9 years. Method: True experimental research type, with a group pre-test post-test with control group design. The sampling technique was carried out by simple random sampling of 30 children. The degree of acidity of saliva is measured using litmus paper, bacterial colonies are incubated on Nutrient Agar media for 24 hours and counted. Test the normality of the data using the one sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Data were analyzed using the Paired T-test if it was normally distributed and the Kruskal Wallis test if it was not normally distributed. Results: The 10% concentration honey gargle group resulted in the average degree of acidity before, namely 7.00, after 6.98, then the average Total Plate Count (TPC) result for normal oral flora, namely before, was 100.47 CFU/ml, whereas after, it was 69.67. CFU/ml. Paired T-Test test results for the 10% honey gargle group Sig. 0.003 (< 0.05), so there is a significant difference between the Total Plate Count (TPC) before and after gargling honey with a concentration of 10%. Conclusion: There is an effect of gargling honey with a concentration of 10% on Total Plate Count of normal oral flora