Nubationis et al Journal of Drug Delivery & Therapeutics. 2022; 12(1):30-32 ISSN: 2250-1177 [30] CODEN (USA): JDDTAO Open Access Full Text Article Research Paper Simulation method of brushing teeth with bass technique in elementary school children: Is it effective? Melkisedek O. Nubatonis 1 , Agusthinus Wali 2, Mery Novaria Pay 3 , Merniwati S. Eluama 4* 1,2,3,4 Department of Dental Health, Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, Indonesia Article Info: Article History: Received 12 November 2021 Reviewed 19 December 2021 Accepted 28 December 2021 Published 15 January 2022 ________________ Cite this article as: Nubationis OM, Wali A, Pay NM, Eluama SM, Simulation method of brushing skills teeth with bass technique in elementary school children: Is it effective?, Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics. 2022; 12(1):30-32 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v12i1.5272 ________________________________________________ *Address for Correspondence: Melkisedek P. Nubationis, Department of Dental Health, Poltekkes Kemenkes Kupang, Indonesia Abstract Background: Dental and oral disease is the highest disease that people complain about in the province of East Nusa Tenggara where the prevalence of dental caries is 54.9%. Specifically for children aged 4-9 it was 50.0% and children aged 10-14 were 41.4%. This is related to the data on the behavior of brushing teeth properly after breakfast and before going to bed at night which is only 3.7%. Objective: This study was to analyze the effect of the simulation method of brushing teeth using the bass technique on the improvement of tooth brushing skills in elementary school children. Method: This study used a pre-experimental design with a pretest and posttest with a one group design. The research was conducted at SDN 2 Baumata Timur, Taebenu District, Kupang Regency. The research sample was taken by purposive sampling technique, as many as 100 students. The instrument for collecting data on brushing teeth skills used an observation sheet. Analysis of the research data using the Wilcoxon test. Result: simulation method of brushing teeth with bass technique is effective in improving brushing skills (p<0.001). Conclusion: The simulation method of brushing teeth with the bass technique is effective in improving the brushing skills of elementary school children. Keywords: Simulation method, bass technique, brushing skills INTRODUCTION Dental and oral health is a very important part of overall health, dental and oral health in Indonesia needs to be considered because dental and oral disease is the highest disease that people complain about. 1,2 Dental health problems such as dental caries, bad breath, and periodontitis are often suffered by children. Dental caries if allowed to continue will experience an infection in the mouth and cause pain. 3,4 Some children only know several methods of brushing their teeth, such as vertical and horizontal methods, while other techniques such as the bass technique or other modification techniques are not known so that dental hygiene is lacking, while brushing teeth with the bass technique is more effective in cleaning teeth and mouth. 5,6 Basic health research in 2018 showed that the population of Indonesia who suffered from dental and oral problems was 57.6% while dental and oral health problems in the province of East Nusa Tenggara were 54.9%. Specifically on dental health problems in children, the prevalence of dental and oral caries was 50.0% in children aged 4-9 while the prevalence of caries in children aged 10-14 was 41.4%. 7 High dental health problems, this is related to data on brushing teeth behavior which every day, it was found that most of the Indonesian population brushed their teeth properly after breakfast and before going to bed at 2.8% while the people of East Nusa Tenggara brushed their teeth properly after eating breakfast and before going to bed at night only 3.7%. 7,8 The main factor that can cause dental caries is the presence of bacteria that can cause dental caries, namely streptococcus and lactobacilli types, foods that we often consume sweet and sticky foods such as candy and chocolate greatly facilitate the occurrence of dental caries, and irregular tooth shape. In addition to several other factors also contribute to dental caries, namely the level of dental and oral hygiene, frequency of food, gender and age. 9–11 Efforts are made to clean teeth from dental caries and plaque by brushing their teeth. Brushing teeth properly can improve the dental hygiene status of children as an effort to prevent dental disease. 12,13 Brushing teeth can be done by several methods using the bass method. Bass technique is a technique for brushing teeth which is done by placing a 45° toothbrush on the root of the tooth and then pressing it slowly while making small rotating movements. 14 MATERIALS AND METHODS The research design used was pre-experimental with one- group pre-post test design. This research was conducted to determine the causal relationship by involving a group of subjects. The subject group was observed before the intervention, then observed after the intervention. 15 Available online on 15.01.2022 at http://jddtonline.info Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics Open Access to Pharmaceutical and Medical Research © 2011-2022, publisher and licensee JDDT, This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted non-commercial use(CC By-NC), provided the original work is properly cited