RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KOWLEDGE OF DENTAL AND ORAL HEALTH MAINTENANCE BASED ON AGE AND GENDER OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MEDAN DENAI DISTRICT

ABSTRACT Background : Dental and oral health become one of the most important things in maintaining the balance of body functions. Due to its significant use, it is necessary to maintain dental and oral health that can be realized through good and correct knowledge and behavior towards maintaining dental and oral health. Objectives: This research aims to determine whether there is a relationship between knowledge of dental and oral health maintenance on age and gender. Methods: A correlative descriptive study with a cross sectional design was deployed in this research. The sampling technique in this research was done through the proportional stratified random sampling method and the proportion estimation formula. The research was conducted on 248 students who were divided into 124 students at An-Nizam Middle School and 124 students at Hikmatul Fadhillah Middle School. A questionnaire with 15 questions to measure knowledge of dental and oral health maintenance was deployed in this research. Chi-square test was measured to analyze the relationship between knowledge of oral health maintenance on age and gender. Results: The results showed that there is a significant relationship between knowledge of age and gender with scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: Tthe research show that age and gender are able to affect a person's knowledge of maintaining oral health. Keyword : Age, Gender, Knowledge, Oral Health Maintenance