EDUCATION WITH A REINFORCEMENT METHOD FOR IMPROVING TOOTH BRUSHING SKILLS WITH A DENTAL AND ORAL HYGIENE INDEX

Primary school students are susceptible to dental caries. Poor dental hygiene maintenance will further influence the dental hygiene index. An attempt to maintain dental hygiene is through removing plaque by tooth brushing. However, few understand how to do it correctly. A method of dental education is necessary to send a message about dental and oral hygiene. This research aims to see the dental and oral hygiene index before and after performing tooth brushing education by reinforcement, consisting of a lecture and a demonstration of a jaw model. The type of study used was quasi-experimental with a pretest and posttest research design. The sampling was applied with 50 students in grades IV and V at SDN 19 Muaro, Sijunjung District, with 25 students for each control and intervention group. Both groups were given a lecture on tooth brushing at pre-test, and only the intervention group was given a demonstration of a jaw model in the post-test. The data analysis employed the Independent T-test. The results show differences in dental and oral hygiene between the pre-test and post-test. In the control group, there is an average increase of 44% good criteria, and in the intervention group, it is greater at 52%. Even so, the dental and oral hygiene between the control and intervention group is not significantly different, with a p-value of 0.731> 0.05. This study concludes that education with the reinforcement method, including a lecture and demonstration of a jaw model, is more effective than only using the lecture method.