Berita Kedokteran Masyarakat

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Background: The issue of dental and oral health is a vulnerable issue faced by groups of elementary school age children. Dental Health National Data (2006) showed that the prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia was about 90% of the 238 million of Indonesian population and the number of children aged 15 years and under who sufferred from dental caries reached 76.5%. The data in 2008 from Banjar Municipal Health Office showed that the number of elementary students in Banjar District who suffered dental caries was by 65% which caused students often not to attend school.Objective: To know the factors that influence dental and oral health behaviors in elementary school children in BanjarDistrictMethods: This was an observational quantitative research using a cross sectional design. The study was conducted in Banjar District, South Kalimantan Province in two subdistricts ie Astambul and Martapura subdis-tricts. The population of this study was the mothers and elementary school age children in Banjar District. Study sample was the mothers and elementary school children in grade III aged 6-12 years old. The total sample was 126 people. The bivariate data analysis used chi-square test and logistic regression for multivariable analysis.Results: Distribution of knowledge level about dental health of elementary school children was good (54.8%); attitude of the mothers was in moderate category (45.2%); behavior of the mothers was also in moderate category (42.9%); neighborhood of elementary school children in the District Banjar was in good category (56.3%), and most of elementary school children in Banjar District had the correct behavior towards dental and oral health, with a frequency of 61.1%. The bivariate analysis showed that the variables of knowledge, attitudes, environment and behavior were significant to the children’s behavior with p-value of 0.0001, and the children’s behavior was significant with dental and oral health status with p-value of 0.0001. These resu