THE EFFECT OF QR CODE USE ON DENTAL AND ORAL HEALTH KNOWLEDGE PREGNANT WOMEN

Background: The first pillar of health transformation is the transformation of primary services, which in its implementation focuses on strengthening promotive and preventive activities (Kemenkes RI, 2022). Pregnant women are one of the groups in society that need special attention regarding health. A lack of knowledge about maintaining oral and dental health during pregnancy results in pregnant women not receiving dental care. One of the ways to improve knowledge is through counseling using QR Codes. Objective: To determine the effect of counseling using QR Codes on dental and oral health knowledge among pregnant women. Method: This is a quasi-experimental design study with a one group pre-test and post-test design. The sampling technique used was total sampling with 36 pregnant women. The research instrument was a questionnaire to measure the dental and oral health knowledge of pregnant women. Data analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: Before the counseling using QR Codes, of the 36 pregnant women, 36,1% had good knowledge, 44,4% had average knowledge, and 19,5% had poor knowledge. After receiving counseling using QR Codes, 91,7% had good knowledge, and 8,3% had average knowledge. The Wilcoxon test yielded a P-value of 0,001 < 0,05, indicating that there was a significant difference between the results before and after the dental and oral health counseling using QR Codes. Conclusion: Counseling using QR Codes has an effect on increasing dental and oral health knowledge of pregnant women.