The relationship between gender and dental caries status based on the def-t Index among first-grade elementary school students in Denpasar

Hubungan antara jenis kelamin dan status karies gigi berdasarkan Indeks def-t pada siswa kelas satu sekolah dasar di Denpasar

Abstract

The caries in primary teeth is assessed by def-t index. One factor thought to be associated with caries status is gender, although findings on this are inconsis-tent. This study employed an observational design with a descriptive quantitative approach. A total of 31 pupils from Class 1B at Saraswati 1 Primary School in Denpasar were selected using purposive sampling. A direct examination of the pupils’ primary teeth was carried out by dental health personnel using the 2018 Riskesdas Dental Health Survey form. The caries status among boys was predominantly in the very low category, whereas among girls, the distribu-tion of caries status was more even. The Spearman’s test showed a correlation coefficient of r=0.225 with p=0.224 (p>0.05), indicating no significant associa-tion between gender and caries status based on the def-t index. It was concluded that there was no significant association between gender and the def-t In-dex category among Year 1B pupils at Saraswati 1 Primary School in Denpasar. The more dominant factors included children’s health behaviours. Further-more, parents’ roles in oral health literacy, supervision of toothbrushing, as well as environmental and economic factors were found to be more decisive in determining children’s caries scores than gender.