Perbedaan Kadar Protein Total dalam Saliva Anak Stunting dengan Karies dan Anak Tidak Stunting Bebas Karies (Kajian di Kapanewon Imogiri, Kabupaten Bantul)

Syarifa Aulia Khoirunnisa, drg. Trianna Wahyu Utami, MD.Sc., Ph.D.; dr. Dyah Listyarifah, M.Sc., D.Med.Sci.

2025 | Skripsi | PENDIDIKAN DOKTER GIGI

Stunting merupakan kondisi kekurangan gizi kronis yang dapat memengaruhi fungsi berbagai sistem tubuh, termasuk sekresi saliva. Saliva mengandung berbagai protein yang berperan penting dalam pertahanan rongga mulut. Kadar protein total saliva berpotensi dipengaruhi oleh status gizi maupun kondisi karies. Gangguan fungsi kelenjar saliva pada anak stunting berpotensi menyebabkan perubahan komposisi saliva, terutama kadar protein total saliva. Kondisi tersebut berpotensi meningkatkan kerentanan anak stunting  terhadap karies gigi. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui perbedaan kadar protein total saliva antara anak stunting dengan karies dan anak tidak stunting bebas karies di Kapanewon Imogiri, Kabupaten Bantul.

Penelitian ini menggunakan desain cross-sectional. Subjek penelitian ini terdiri atas dua kelompok, yaitu anak stunting dengan karies dan anak tidak stunting bebas karies. Sampel saliva dikumpulkan menggunakan metode spitting. Kadar protein total saliva dianalisis dengan uji BCA Assay menggunakan alat spektrofotometer UV-Vis. Selanjutnya, data kadar protein total saliva dibandingkan dengan uji statistik.

Hasil uji Shapiro-Wilk menunjukkan bahwa data tidak terdistribusi normal, sedangkan uji Levene menunjukkan variansi yang homogen. Uji Mann Whitney U menunjukkan bahwa tidak terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara kelompok anak stunting dengan karies dan anak tidak stunting bebas karies, meskipun kadar protein total saliva pada anak stunting dengan karies cenderung lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan anak tidak stunting bebas karies.

Stunting is a condition of chronic undernutririon that can affect the function of various body systems, including salivary secretion. Saliva contains various proteins that play important roles in oral defense mechanisms of the oral cavity. The  total salivary protein levels may be influenced by nutritional status as well as caries conditions. Impaired salivary gland function in stunted children may lead to alterations in salivary composition, particularly in total salivary protein levels. This study aimed to determine the difference in total salivary protein levels between stunted children with caries and non-stunted caries-free children in Kapanewon Imogiri, Bantul.

This research employed a cross-sectional design. The study subjects consisted of two groups: stunted children with caries and non-stunted caries-free children. Saliva samples were collected using the spitting method. Total salivary protein levels were analyzed using the BCA Assay with a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The total protein data were subsequently compared using statistical tests.

The Shapiro–Wilk test indicated that the data were not normally distributed, while the Levene test showed homogeneous variances. The Mann–Whitney U test revealed no significant difference between stunted children with caries and non-stunted caries-free children, although total salivary protein levels in stunted children with caries tended to be higher than those in non-stunted caries-free children.

Kata Kunci : saliva, protein total, stunting, karies, anak