PLAYING WITH DENTAL HEALTH QUARTET CARDS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

The persistently high prevalence of dental caries among elementary school children in Indonesia requires serious attention from various stakeholders to enhance their knowledge and awareness in maintaining healthy teeth. Innovative and enjoyable learning media are needed to engage children in learning how to care for their dental health. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of quartet cards in improving dental health knowledge among fourth-grade elementary school students. A quasi-experimental method was employed, with purposive sampling used for participant selection. A total of 62 students participated, comprising 31 students in the experimental group and 31 in the control group. The research instrument consisted of a pretest and posttest questionnaire with 15 validated items using point biserial correlation and Cronbach’s Alpha for reliability testing. Both groups received a lecture on dental health, followed by a quartet card game intervention in the experimental group only. Data analysis included descriptive statistics to determine the mean pretest and posttest scores, followed by a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test to assess the mean differences. The results indicated a greater increase in mean scores in the experimental group compared to the control group. The experimental group’s mean pretest score was 11.19, and the posttest score was 12.42, while the control group had a mean pretest score of 10.90 and a posttest score of 11.94. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test showed a significant increase in knowledge in the experimental group (p = 0.002), whereas the control group did not show a statistically significant improvement (p = 0.145). Playing the dental health quartet card game was found to be effective in enhancing dental health knowledge among elementary school children.