Description:
Brushing teeth was the cheapest and the easiest preventive action to do. However, the maximal result was difficult to obtain. The sweet and sticky food was cariogenic and the characteristic of South Borneo’s food. Purpose: This research aims to determine the difference of salivary pH from brushing teeth before and after eating the sweet and sticky food measured by pH meter at 10-12 years old children in SDN Melayu 2 Banjarmasin. Methods: This study used a quasi experimental with pretest-posttest two group design. The test of hypothesis was done by using a wilcoxon test. The sample was 60 children with purposive sampling technique. Results: This study showed that the salivary pH average of group who brushed teeth before eating the sweet and sticky food at 5th, 15th and 30th minute was 7,3. And the salivary pH average of group who brushed teeth after eating the sweet and sticky food was 7,1.
Conclusion: There was a significant difference of salivary pH from brushing teeth before and after eating the sweet and sticky food measured by pH meter at 10-12 years old children in SDN Melayu 2 Banjarmasin at 5th minute with p= 0,007, at 15th minute with p= 0,008 and at 30th minute with p= 0,002 that used wilcoxon test.
Keywords: salivary pH, brushing teeth, sweet and sticky food, caries, cariogenic.