Caries Incidence Rates Examination Through the Indonesian Digital Caries Risk Assessment for Parents of Muhammadiyah Warungboto Elementary School Yogyakarta

¹ Conservative and Endodontic Department, Faculty of Dentistry, 55183 Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
² Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, 55183 Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
³ Nusantara Scientific Research Center (NSRC), Bantul, Yogyakarta, 55752, Indonesia
⁴ Department of Oral Diagnostics, Dental Hospital, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, 55252, Indonesia
⁵ Dental Profession, Faculty of Dentistry, 55183 Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: ermasofiani@umy.ac.id

Abstract

Early childhood caries in Indonesia is relatively high, as seen from the average def/DMF-T index of deciduous teeth in Indonesia reaching 8.1. One of the contributing factors is improper toothbrush habits. Based on Basic Health Research, 94.9% of Yogyakarta’s population, only 6.0% brush their teeth properly. This study aims to provide an overview of the success of examining the incidence of caries using the Indonesian Digital Caries Risk Assessment (IDCRA) website, which is reported directly to parents. This research method is a quasi-experimental method with a one-group pretest-postest design conducted on 83 parents and students of Muhammadiyah Warungboto Elementary School in Yogyakarta. Data were collected from pretest and postest assessments on students’ dental health knowledge, subjective and objective examinations using the IDCRA website, reporting of examination results to parents, and parental satisfaction questionnaires on dental examination reports. This study showed a 14% improvement in students’ comprehension of oral health after educational intervention. The initial def/DMF-T index of 4.6 decreased to 4.2 after implementing education and disseminating examination results to parents and students. Furthermore, the parental survey revealed that 96% of participants acknowledged that the dental examination report significantly increased their awareness of dental care for children. Additionally, 99% of parents supported ensuring children adhere to proper teeth-brushing practices to reduce the risk of cavities. In conclusion, dental examination reports using IDCRA are successful in informing parents about their children’s dental health and raising awareness for parents, students, and teachers to monitor and provide dental care for children.