THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN RELATION TO THE ORAL AND DENTAL HYGIENE STATUS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN

The role of parents is very important because they are the closest figures to children in maintaining oral and dental hygiene, especially for children with special needs such as those who are visually impaired. The role of parents includes being a model, mentor, organizer, and teacher. Oral and dental hygiene is a condition in which a person's mouth is free from impurities such as debris, plaque, and tartar. The issue in this research is that the dental and oral hygiene of visually impaired children is still in the moderate category, and the role of parents in maintaining their children's dental and oral hygiene is still in the fair category. This study aims to determine the relationship between the role of parents in maintaining dental and oral hygiene and the oral hygiene status of visually impaired children at SLB-A YPAB Surabaya. This study uses a quantitative approach with a correlational analytic type of research and a cross-sectional design, involving the use of questionnaires to measure the role of parents and OHI-S examinations. The respondents in this study consisted of 30 visually impaired children and their parents. Data analysis was conducted using the chi-square test. The results showed that the average OHI-S score of visually impaired children was 2.84, which falls into the moderate category, and 67.94% of parents were in the fair category in terms of their role in maintaining their children's oral hygiene, with a correlation value of 0.008. It can be concluded that the role of parents can influence the oral and dental hygiene status of visually impaired children at SLB-A YPAB Surabaya.