UGM Researchers Find Islamic Sholat, Wudu Affect Oral Hygiene
20 July 2018 19:02 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Three students of University of Gajah Mada (UGM) conducted research on the effects of activities related to the Islamic act of praying (sholat) towards people’s oral hygiene and secured interesting findings.
“The [results of] research show that sholat activities and the activities beforehand of washing parts of the body (wudu) are found to have a strong correlation with increased pH, the speed of saliva flow and cortisol level that provide oral protection,” as stated by one of the researchers, Layung Sekar Prabarayi, on the campus’ official website on Thursday, July 19.
The team of researchers comprises Layung, Nadia Rully Auliawati—both are of the Faculty of Dentistry—and Rais Aliffandy Damroni from Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing.
Layung explained that 25.9 percent of Indonesia’s high negative oral health tendencies can be improved by daily activities done routinely and correctly, such as wudu.
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“Wudu can increase the pH level. The higher the pH, the quicker saliva flows and the cortisol level is higher as well, but of course within the accepted limits,” said Layung.
Sufficient supply of saliva enables the teeth to be well-lubricated and anti-bacterial activities. Meanwhile, the lack of saliva secretion can lead to dry mouth or Xerostomia that can be caused by stress, medication side effects, the lack of bodily fluid, and the sufficient production of saliva.
The research involved 20 subjects that adopted a static group pretest and posttest methods, which were split into 10 test subjects and 10 control subjects. The samples from each subject were taken before the subject conducted wudu and after sholat five times a day.
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The test showed that the average pH level of test subjects was 7.8, while that of the control was 7.75, which Layung said was a sign that the activities could indeed increase the pH level. Someone’s calm and relaxed state of mind after performing wudu and sholat causes the parasympathetic nerves to increase and improves cortisol and saliva.
MOH KHORY ALFARIZI
