Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – Education about the importance of dental and oral health needs to be done early on. For this reason, the Malang City Government (Pemkot) through the Arjuno Health Center held Dental and Oral Counseling for Preschool Children at TK Muslimat NU 40, Kidul Dalem, Wednesday (31/8/2022).
After two years of being implemented online by sending photos of teeth, currently the activity is carried out by checking directly to kindergartens and PAUDs. The dentist of the Arjuno Health Center, drg. Indra Ratna Sari who directly checked the dental health of 25 students of Muslimat NU 40 Kindergarten said that this activity aims to check the teeth of kindergarten/PAUD children and provide dental and oral health education.
"In the health center there is a program for school children including toddlers, PAUD and kindergarten. Here the health center educates from promotive and preventive as the main approach. First we provide education on how to brush teeth properly, then healthy food for children and others," explained dr. Indra who was met during a dental examination.
dr. Indra added that many people think that dental and oral health is simple. But actually it is the core of all health, because from the oral cavity is the beginning of health. So dental and oral health is important to always be maintained because it can affect the health of the body as a whole.
"If children's dental and oral health is disturbed, it can later have an impact on other things. Such as disrupting nutritional intake because they may end up being fussy and not wanting to eat. If nutrition is disturbed, it can later affect children's concentration in learning and intelligence," explained Dr. Indra.
Therefore, continued Dr. Indra, as early as possible from the age of PAUD, TK and even when the child's teeth have grown, there should actually be education related to dental and oral health. In addition to direct education to schools, health centers also provide education to mothers of toddlers at integrated health posts. Because the age of children's teeth growing starts at 6 months, so there must be an introduction to dental and oral hygiene.
"Later, when the teeth have grown completely, they will be introduced to regular check-ups with the dentist. So at least the fear of the dentist can be minimized because on average, children are afraid of going to the dentist. So we also use an approach by embracing and giving confidence to children that the dentist is not scary. So that later the goal of dental and oral care can be achieved," he said.
On that occasion, Dr. Indra explained that for routine check-ups, it is at least once every 6 months. Meanwhile, for preschool children's dental and oral counseling activities, it is carried out twice a year in the months of vitamin A provision, namely February and August in the respective health center work areas. The hope is that dental and oral health can be realized in children, and the concern of students and parents for dental and oral health can be increased. (eka/ram)
