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Available online at ajdhs.com 

Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences 
Open Access to Dental and Medical Research 

Copyright  © 2023 The  Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use provided the 

original author and source are credited  

 

 

Chewing yam fruit (Pachyrhizus erosus) as an effort to reduce index debris 
in elementary school children 

Indrayati Fadjeri1, Afna Dzulfaqor2, Tedi Purnama3 

1,2,3 Department of Dental Health, Poltekkes Kemenkes Jakarta I, Jakarta, Indonesia 

Article Info: 
_______________________________________ 
Article History: 

Received 27 March 2022      
Reviewed  12 May 2023 
Accepted 30 May 2023 
Published 15 June 2023 

_______________________________________ 
Cite this article as:  

Fadjeri I, Dzulfaqor A, Purnama T, 
Chewing yam fruit (Pachyrhizus erosus) 
as an effort to reduce index debris in 
elementary school children, Asian Journal of 
Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 3(2):15-17 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/ajdhs.v3i2.41       

_______________________________________
*Address for Correspondence:   

Tedi Purnama, Department of Dental 
Health, Poltekkes Kemenkes Jakarta I, 
Indonesia 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Oral health is an integral component of general health. The prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia is 
around 90% of the 238 million Indonesian population and the number of children aged 15 years and 
under who suffer from dental caries reaches 76.5%. Eating fibrous foods such as fruits can help clean 
teeth, one of which is yam fruit. The purpose of this study was to determine the debris index score 
before and after eating yam in elementary school children. This research method is quasi experimental. 
This research was conducted with a population of 61 students obtained by using a total sampling 
technique. The instrument used in this study was a debris index examination sheet. Results: before 
eating yam fruit, 3 students (4.9%) had good index debris criteria, 28 students (45.9%) moderate index 
debris criteria, 30 students (49, 9%) had bad index debris criteria (49, 2%) and after chewing yam fruit, 
47 students (77%) had good debris index criteria, 14 students (23%) had moderate debris index criteria 
and there were no students with bad index debris criteria. The results of the paired sample test analysis 
obtained a p-value of 0.001. Conclusion: Chewing yam fruit can reduce index debris in elementary 
school children. 

Keywords: Chewing yam fruit, index debris, children 

 

 

INTRODUCTION  

Oral health is an integral component of general health. It is 
also becoming clear that the causes and risk factors for oral 
disease are often the same as those involved in common 
diseases. The health, well-being, education and development 
of children, families and society as a whole can be affected by 
oral health. Although there have been considerable 
improvements in children's oral health in recent decades, 
rates of dental caries (tooth decay) are still one of the most 
common oral health problems in children worldwide. A 
sizeable population of children in developing countries is 
affected by tooth decay and most of the time their appropriate 
care is given last priority due to limited access to health 
services.1,2 The lack of availability and affordability of health 
services not only results in disease disorders but also 
increases the cost of treatment and care. Until now, not a 
single country has stated that it has caries-free children.3 

Indonesian children under 12 years as much as 89% suffer 
from dental and oral diseases. This condition will affect their 
health status, growth process and even their future. In Jakarta, 
90% of children suffer from cavities and 80% suffer from gum 
disease. This figure is estimated to be more severe in regions 
and children from the middle to lower economic class.4,5 

The prevalence of dental caries in Indonesia is around 90% of 
the 238 million Indonesian population and the number of 
children aged 15 years and under who suffer from dental 
caries reaches 76.5%. From the results of Siagian's research it 

was found that 95% of elementary school children had poor 
dental and oral health, so they suffered from dental caries.6 

Many efforts have been made to maintain healthy teeth and 
mouth including mechanical, chemical, and modification 
between mechanical and chemical methods. One of them is by 
brushing your teeth, flossing (using dental floss), cleaning 
your tongue. Chemically, namely avoiding foods that contain 
sucrose, but eating more fibrous and watery foods.7 Eating 
fibrous foods such as fruits can help clean teeth, for example 
papaya, pineapple, watermelon, apples, yam, red guava are 
examples of fruits that are easy to find and can be consumed 
immediately fresh.8 

Yam fruit (Pachyrhizus erosus) is a fruit that has a water 
content of 85.10% and 5.49% fiber by weight of the yam. The 
liquid contained in jicama such as isoflavones is used as an 
antioxidant and can reduce levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). 
The fiber in jicama has ingredients such as calcium 
phosphorus and vitamin C. Yam requires chewing hard 
enough so that it can increase salivary secretion and can clean 
teeth from food debris naturally. Chewing is a movement that 
will stimulate the release of saliva which contains anti-
bacterial, glycoprotein compounds, calcium and fluoride in it. 
Saliva produced from chewing movements can remove debris 
or food debris and neutralize acidic substances from food 
residues found in the pits and fissures of the tooth surface, but 
the tooth surface cannot be cleaned optimally only with 
saliva.9 In a study  Aritonang on the Description of Debris 
Index Before and After Eating Pears and Jicama in Grade III 

                       Open Access                                                                                                                                                                                                         Research Article                                          

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Fadjeri et al                                                                                                                                  Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 3(2):15-17 

[16]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         AJDHS.COM 

Students at SD Anastasia Namo Bintang Pancur Batu 
Foundation, it was found that eating yam fruit was more 
effective than pears, which was shown through the results of 
the study, namely a decrease in debris index after eating pears 
was 0, while after eating jicama was 0.7.10 

METHOD AND MATERIAL  

The research design used was a quasi-experimental study with 
a one group pretest-posttest design. The research sample that 
will be used in this research is Class V students at SDN 04 Pagi 
Tanjung Barat, South Jakarta, totaling 61 people. Data 
collection was carried out on March 30-31 2022. The 
instrument for collecting debris data used index debris while 
the yam fruit given for consumption was 100 grams for each 
respondent. Analysis of the data used in this study using SPSS 
with paired sample t test. 

RESULT 

The results of the study were conducted on fifth grade 
students at SDN 04 Pagi Tanjung Barat, South Jakarta in 2022. 
Data collection was carried out before and after chewing yam 
fruit by direct examination into the oral cavity of the students 
who were the samples. From the research conducted, the 
sample frequency distribution data is obtained as follows: 

Table 1: Frequency distribution of index debris criteria before 
chewing yam fruit 

Index Debris 
Criteria 

Frequency Percentage 

Good 3 4.9 

moderate 28 45.9 

Bad 30 49.2 

Total 61 100 

 

Table 1 shows that index debris before chewing yam fruit 
obtained good index debris criteria of 3 people (4.9%), 
moderate index debris of 28 people (45.9%) and bad index 
debris of 30 people (49.2%) 

 

Table 2: Frequency distribution of index debris criteria after 
chewing yam fruit 

Index Debris 
Criteria 

Frequency Percentage 

Good 47 77.0 

moderate 14 23.0 

Bad 0 0.0 

Total 61 100 

 

Table 2 shows that 47 students (77%) had good debris index 
after chewing yam fruit, 14 students (23%) had moderate 
index debris and there were no students with bad index 
debris. 

Table 3: Different test of debris index before and after chewing 
yam fruit 

Debris index Mean Difference p-value 

Pre-test 1.74 
1.36 0.001 

Pos-test 0.38 

Table 3 shows that the results of the paired sample test 
analysis obtained a p-value of 0.001, meaning that chewing 
yam fruit can reduce index debris in elementary school 
children. 

DISCUSSION 

Yam fruit (Pachyrhizus erosus) is rich in various nutrients 
such as vitamin C and contains antibacterial compounds such 
as flavonoids, tannins, quinones, saponins, alkaloids and 
triterpenoids so that it is effective as a plaque cleanser in the 
oral cavity.1112 The water in yam can help the mouth secrete 
fluids naturally so that it can help the process of cleaning the 
mouth and teeth from dirt. With the water contained in this 
Jicama will help provoke saliva in the mouth to appear and can 
work to keep teeth clean.13 

Hasil penelitian before chewing yam, 3 students (4.9%) had 
good index debris criteria, 28 students (45.9%) moderate 
index debris criteria, 30 students (49.2%) bad index debris 
criteria and after chewing yam found 47 students (77%) with 
good debris index criteria, 14 students (23%) with moderate 
index debris criteria and there were no students with bad 
index debris criteria, resulting in an increase in index debris 
criteria. The results of the paired sample test analysis obtained 
a p-value of 0.001, meaning that chewing yam fruit can reduce 
index debris in elementary school children. This is in line with 
research conducted by Siahaan, there is a difference in the 
decrease in index debris before and after consuming yam fruit 
for good criteria of 0.15, for medium criteria of 0.77 and for 
bad criteria of 0.35. With a difference in debris index of all 
criteria is 1.27. Then the research conducted by Aritonang, 
2019, there was a significant difference between the debris 
index before and after eating pears and jicama, that is, the 
initial dental debris index was in the bad category and after 
eating pears and jicama, the final debris index was in the 
moderate category.14  

Reinforced by research conducted by Fitriyani, shows that the 
index debris score before chewing apples is 1.4 and after 
chewing apples is 0.9 so the difference is 0.5, while the index 
debris score before chewing yam fruit is 1 .6 and after chewing 
yam fruit is 0.8 so the difference is 0.8. So the difference in 
debris index of chewing yam fruit is higher than chewing 
apples. This means that this research is in line with the 3 
previous studies. Because yam (Pachyrhizus erosus) is a fruit 
that has a water content of 85.10% and 5.49% of the fiber by 
weight of yam. Yam requires chewing hard enough so as to 
increase salivary secretion and can clean teeth from food 
debris naturally. Chewing is a movement that will stimulate 
the release of saliva with its content and fluoride in it. Saliva 
produced from chewing movements can remove debris or 
food remnants and neutralize acidic substances from food 
residue found in the pits and fissures of the tooth surface, but 
the tooth surface cannot be cleaned optimally only with anti-
bacterial saliva, glycoprotein compounds, calcium.15,9 

CONCLUSION 

Based on the results of the research that has been done, it can 
be concluded that there is the chewing yam fruit can reduce 
index debris in elementary school children. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The authors thank to all participants and research assistants. 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST 

The authors declare that they have no conflict interests. 

 

 



Fadjeri et al                                                                                                                                  Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 3(2):15-17 

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