Relationship between nutritional status and occurrence of dental caries in mentally retarded children at Karya Bhakti Special School In 2022

Abstract

Background: Dental caries is a disease of dental tissue which is characterized by damage
to the surface tissue of the teeth. Children with mental retardation have a higher caries rate
and poor oral hygiene than normal children in general. Dental and oral health is part of the
body's health that influences each other, namely the nutritional status which can be
measured through anthropometric assessment. Nutritional status is an important element in
shaping health.
Objective: the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between nutritional
status and the occurrence of dental caries in mentally retarded children at SLB Karya
Bhakti.
Method: this research is a cross sectional study which was conducted in July 2022 at the
Karya Bhakti Special School on Jalan Sidoyoso Wetan Lebar No.14, RT 005/RW12
Simokerto, Simokerto District, Surabaya City, East Java 60143. The research subjects were
28 mentally retarded children who met Inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken using
simple random sampling technique. The data collection instrument in this study used an
observation sheet to measure the nutritional status of mentally retarded children and an
examination sheet to measure dental caries in mentally retarded children. The Wilcoxon
test was used to analyze the relationship between nutritional status and the occurrence of
dental caries in mentally retarded children at SLB Karya Bhakti with a significance level
(α) = 0.05.
Result: The nutritional status of mentally retarded children at Karya Bhakti Special School
is in the normal category and mentally retarded children at Karya Bhakti Special School
have dental caries. Based on the results of statistical tests, it is known that there is a
relationship between nutritional status and the occurrence of dental caries in mentally
retarded children at SLB Karya Bhakti (p <0.05).
Conclusion: there is a relationship between nutritional status and the occurrence of dental
caries in mentally retarded children at SLB Karya Bhakti.