Characteristics and perspectives maternal actions relate to oral hygiene of primary school-age children

Aim: To analyze the relationship between maternal characteristics and actions to maintain children's oral health with oral hygiene in primary school-aged children Method: This type of research is quantitative analytical with a cross-sectional approach. The population is students from SD Negeri Seberang Mesjid 1 Banjarmasin. The sample was taken using a purposive sampling technique of 5th-grade students and their mothers. Data collection on characteristics and perspectives of maternal actions used a questionnaire instrument. Meanwhile, data on oral hygiene uses the Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (OHI-S) examination sheet. Data analysis used an alternative relationship test, namely Fisher's Exact Test. Results: Most mothers (47.1%) had actions to maintain their children's oral health in the good category. Meanwhile, most children's oral hygiene (49.4%) was in the poor category. The results of the correlation test showed (p-value) that the child's oral hygiene with the mother’s education = 0.000, the mother’s occupation = 0.001, the mother’s exposure to information = 0.000, the family’s income = 0.014, and the mother's age = 0.596. In the correlation test between the mother's actions in maintaining her child's oral health and the children's oral hygiene, it was found that p-value = 0.000. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between maternal characteristics which include: education, occupation, family income, and the mother's actions. Meanwhile, the mother's age is not significantly related to the mother's actions. There is a significant relationship between the mother's actions in maintaining her child's oral health and the oral hygiene of primary school-aged children. Keywords: characteristic, perspective actions, oral hygiene