Stres adalah sekumpulan reaksi tubuh terhadap stimuli yang mengancam keseimbangan dan dapat terjadi pada orang dewasa maupun anak-anak. Beberapa cara untuk mengukur besarnya stres antara lain melalui pengisian kuesioner dan pengukuran kadar kortisol. Kuesioner Stress in Children didesain untuk mengukur besar stres anak usia 9-12 tahun. Kortisol adalah hormon penanda stres yang bisa didapat melalui saliva. Stres disebutkan sebagai etiologi utama bruxism. Bruxism adalah gerakan involunter berupa menggesekkan atau menggeretakkan gigi dan prevalensinya di anak-anak besar. Penelitian ini bertujuan membandingkan kadar kortisol saliva anak stres yang bruxism dengan non bruxism usia 9-11 tahun. Desain penelitian analitik deskriptif potong lintang. Untuk mengukur kadar stres digunakan kuesioner Stress in Children yang diisi subyek. Untuk mendiagnosa bruxism digunakan kriteria diagnostik American Academy of Sleep Medicine AASM yang diisi oleh orang tua subyek dan pemeriksaan klinis keausan gigi. Saliva diambil pada setiap subyek sebanyak 5 mL untuk pengukuran kadar kortisol di laboratorium. Analisa statistik dengan uji T menunjukkan adanya perbedaan yang tidak bermakna p 0,05 . Disimpulkan bahwa tidak terdapat perbedaan bermakna antara anak stres yang bruxism dengan non bruxism sehingga stres bukanlah etiologi utama bruxism dalam kelompok penelitian ini.

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Stress defined as a set of body's reactions to stimuli that threaten its equilibrium and can occurs in adults or children. There are some methods to measure stress magnitude for example filling the stress questionnaire or measuring cortisol level. Stress in Children Questionnaire designed to measure stress magnitude in children aged 9 12 years. Cortisol is a stress hormone that can collected from saliva. Stress was suspected as the major cause of bruxism. Bruxism is involuntary excessive grinding or clenching during the nonfunctional movements of the masticatory system and the prevalence in children is high. The aim of the study is to compare salivary cortisol level between bruxism and non bruxism stress children aged 9 11 years.

The study design was analytic descriptive cross sectional. To measure stress level, subjects filled Stress in Children Questionnaire. To diagnose bruxism, questionnaire based on American Academy of Sleep Medicine AASM was filled by subject's parents followed by clinical assestment of tooth wearness. Amount of 5 mL saliva was collected from each subject. Statistical analysis with Independent T Test showed no significant difference between two groups p 0,05 . It was concluded that there is no significant difference between cortisol level of stress children with bruxism and non bruxism, so stress is not the major etiology of bruxism in this population.