Maintaining Dental and Mouth Hygine with Miswak

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Illustration of Scientific Article by Feri Fenoria
Illustration of Scientific Article by Feri Fenoria

UNAIR NEWS – Dental and oral health problem, especially dental caries in Indonesia are still high. In general, the causes of dental caries are bacteria and food scraps that are still in the mouth. Therefore people need to maintain the cleanliness of the oral cavity.

One of healthy behaviour that can be an alternative is using miswak. In Islam, the Prophet taught his people to maintain dental hygiene using miswak, which is used as a tool to clean the oral cavity. Miswak itself comes from branches or the roots of Salvadora persica tree which generally grows in the desert.

Previous studies have examined the benefits of miswak which have been tested both microbiologically, pharmacologically, and material structures. The fact obtained is the effects of miswak in cleaning and maintaining healthy teeth and mouth is better than using ordinary toothbrushes.

Illustration by zlavadna.sk

However, it did not discuss the behaviour of using Miswak in previous studies. Research on factors that encourage a person to use miswak has not been studied further.

Departing from this curiosity, Dr. Taufan Bramantoro., Drg., M.Kes., and the team were encouraged to do research the behaviour of using miswak. They managed to complete their research in a journal entitled “Overview of Miswak User Behavior Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior in a country with the largest Muslim population”.

This research was conducted at As-Salafi Al-Fitrah Islamic Boarding School in Surabaya. The sample used amounted to 109 students using semi-open-ended questions and closed questions.

As a result, people who use miswak have a smaller chance of getting dental hygiene problems. They also have a higher chance of maintaining dental health.

From the study, it can also be seen that the perception of behaviour control has the most dominant link in increasing the intention and behaviour of using miswak. Religious knowledge and understanding, as well as the level of faith, also have the opportunity to improve dental health maintenance behaviour.

The result of this study was used as a basis for making alternative approaches in the community to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining healthy teeth and mouth can also be done through a religious approach. The use of miswak is believed to be one of the sunnah taught by the Prophet.

Dr. Taufan hopes miswak can be an effort to maintain dental health in the community. The use of miswak certainly has different values, and it is more potent in underlying a person to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Dental health behaviour by using miswak is believed to be religiously valuable to be a form of worship,” he added.

Dr. Taufan has also developed a miswak brush and designed like a standard toothbrush. The miswak brush was developed by Dr. Taufan to facilitate miswak in the community. (*)

Author: Sandi Prabowo

Editor: Nuri Hermawan

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