GAMBARAN TINGKAT PENGETAHUAN TENTANG KARIES GIGI DAN JUMLAH KARIES GIGI PADA SISWA KELAS IV SD MUHAMMADIYAH TEGALREJO

Background: The level of knowledge is one of the common criteria that influences the attitude of maintaining the dental health of a person or community. The main problem with children’s oral and dental health is dental caries. Dental caries is caused by bacterial metabolic activity in the plaque that causes email demineralization. Research Objectives: This study aims to find out the description the level of knowledge about dental caries and the number of dental caries in fourth grade students of SD Muhammadiyah Tegalrejo. Research Methods: This type of research is descriptive with a cross sectional survey design. The method of sampling uses purposive sampling technique with a sample of 46 respondents using inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Research Result: The result showed that the majority of knowledge about dental caries and the number of dental caries in the fourth grade students of SD Muhammadiyah Tegalrejo had a good category of knowledge about dental caries in 41 respondents (91,1%), and the number of dental caries for the medium category was 17 respondents (37,8%). Conclusion: The fourth grade students of SD Muhammadiyah Tegalrejo had a good level of knowledge about dental caries and the number of dental caries in medium category was 15 respondents (33,3%). Keywords: The Level of Knowledge, Dental Carie