A Description of Nail Biting Habit in Elementary School Children

Yetty Herdiyati,Nasya Daniya Marhani

doi:10.3844/ojbsci.2017.66.69

Abstract

Nail biting is one of the oral habits that can harm teeth and adjust the structure. The aim of this study is to get the data which help to describe the habit of nail biting in elementary school students in Coblong sub-district in Bandung. This study was conducted using descriptive survey method. The samples were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The data of nail biting habit in children was obtained from clinical examination and questionnaires answered by parents as supporting data. The results showed that 25.2% of elementary school students in Coblong sub-district in Bandung have a common nail biting habit, 29.4% lying in age bracket of 9 years old, 57.5% are boys, 41.3% bite one nail, 24.6% bite thumbnail and 48.5% have attrition effect on their teeth. The conclusion of this study is that most nail biters in elementary students are boys who are mostly aged 9 years old. Most nail biters only bite one nail which is the thumb as the most fingernail bitten. The highest nail biting effect towards teeth is attrition.

Highlights

Oral health and nail biting is an important part of health which has little empirical research focusing on this topic (Claffey et al, 1994)
After informed consent was collected, clinical examination to see signs of nail biting in children's teeth and the questionnaire given to parents as additional data research
These results are consistent with research of Malone and Massler in 1952 established that nail biting observed at ages 8, 9 and 10 years (Sachan and Chaturvedi, 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Oral health and nail biting is an important part of health which has little empirical research focusing on this topic (Claffey et al, 1994). Banks and Yi (2002) discuss (1) why young children bite, (2) how common biting problems are, (3) what interventions might be considered and (4) how teachers or caregivers can interact with and involve parents in dealing with biting behavior.Biting is one cause of conflicts within children and a cause of oral health problems. The level of oral health was measured by the presence or absence of diseases of the mouth, various aspects such as the psycho-social aspects and impact on quality of life are considered (Garde et al, 2013). This is true due new research which shows that once a child turns 3 years old but still biting, it may indicate other behavioural problems, especially if the biting incidents are frequent (Banks and Yi, 2002). Because of the developmental nature of most biting, experts stress that biting is not something to blame on the child, parents, or teachers (Greenman and Stonehouse, 1994; Banks and Yi, 2002)

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion