Formulation of Ethanol Extract (Myrmecodia pendans) as an Antibacterial Streptococcus mutans in Chewable Lozenges for Children with Early Childhood Caries

Background: Riskesdas showed an increase in the prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia, which was 43.4% in 2007 to 53.2% in 2013. Not only among adults affected by caries but also children. One of the caries that often occurs in children under five. Early Childhood Caries. To overcome this, a solution using herbal plants, one of which is the ant nest (Myrmecodia pendans) which can reduce the number of Streptococcus mutans bacteria as the main bacteria that causes caries. Chewing lozenges is one preparation that can be used as an alternative to antibacterial treatment in the mouth. Objectives: aims to determine the effectiveness of ether extract from ant nests (Myrmecodya pendans) as an antibacterial Streptococcus mutans in the preparation of chewing lozenges in the case of early childhood caries. Materials and Research Methods: This study used field and laboratory experiments with a pretest-posttest control group research design. The sample consisted of 30 children consisting of 3 groups, namely 10 children chewing xylitol market, 10 children chewing chewable moisturizing tablets 3.75%, and 7.5%. Data processing and analysis using SPSS version 22.0 for windows. Results: The results of the paired t-test showed a significant reduction in the number of Streptococcus mutans colonies before and after chewing the ant nest of chewable tablets, 3.75% and 7.5%. From the paired t test results obtained p-value of 0.004. This shows that the p-value obtained is smaller than 0.05 so it can be concluded that the treatment of chewable nest tablet concentration of 7.5% has a significant effect in reducing the number of bacteria in the mouth. Conclusion: The extract of the ant nest lozenges saffron (Myrmecodia pendans) etiquette was 7.5% more effective than the chewed lozenges nest (Myrmecodia pendans) 3.75%, so in this study the nesting lozenges chewable tablets.