Association of Parental Socioeconomic Status on Dental Caries Experience in 6-7 Years Old Children in Nguter

Abstract

Background: Caries is one of the most common dental problems in Indonesia, especially in children. The occurrence of caries is influenced by various factors. The socioeconomic status of parents is known to play a role in the occurrence of caries. This is because children with low socioeconomic status will affect the level of knowledge and awareness of maintaining dental and oral health and the ability to obtain proper dental and oral health services. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship of the socioeconomic status of parents with the incidence of caries in children at the age of 6-7 years in Nguter. Method: This research was a quantitative analytic study with a cross-sectional design. The population of this study were children aged 6-7 years in Nguter with 53 children as sample that obtained by total sampling technique according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary data was collected using questionnaires to obtain the demographic data and socioeconomic status of parents and observation of caries status in children. The statistical analysis was perfomed by using chi square test. Result: The results showed that there was no effect of parents' income level on children's dental caries (p=0.099), there was no effect of father's education level (p=0.988) and mother's level of education (p=0.916) on children's dental caries, and there was no effect of the number of parents' family members on children's dental caries (p=0.625). Conclusion: There was no effect of parental socioeconomic level to children dental caries.