The Influence of Audiovisual Media Education on Primary School Children’s Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Dental Caries

Abstract

Background: Dental caries is a common dental health problem in children and can cause pain, infection, and tooth loss. This condition can negatively impact quality of life by reducing self-confidence, interfering with eating, speaking, learning, and social interactions. One crucial factor in caries prevention is children's knowledge and attitudes about oral health. Sufficient knowledge helps form positive behaviors, such as maintaining oral hygiene and visiting the dentist regularly. Audiovisual education is effective because it presents information in a visual and auditory format that is engaging and easier for children to understand. Objective: to determine the effect of education using audiovisual media on the knowledge and attitudes of student primary school about dental caries. Method: This study used a pre-experimental method with a one-group pre-test and post-test design. The research was conducted at SD Plus Darussurur Al-Yahya, involving 45 students from grades I to III, selected through stratified random sampling. Data collection was carried out using a structured questionnaire as the primary research instrument to measure students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding dental caries before and after the audiovisual educational intervention. Results: The results showed a statistically significant improvement in both knowledge and attitudes. Good knowledge increased from 35.6% to 73.3%, sufficient knowledge decreased from 33.3% to 26.7%, and no students had poor knowledge after education. Positive attitudes rose from 51.1% to 66.7%, while negative attitudes declined from 48.9% to 33.3%. Statistical analysis using the Marginal Homogeneity test (p = 0.001) for knowledge and the McNemar test (p = 0.039) for attitudes confirmed that these changes were statistically significant. Conclusion: Audiovisual education potentially improves knowledge and promotes positive attitudes toward dental caries prevention among Primary School Children’s.