<![CDATA[Dental caries among preschool children remains a significant public health problem. Low knowledge and inadequate toothbrushing skills are among the contributing factors. Health education using phantom media and animated videos can be used to improve children's knowledge and toothbrushing skills. Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of health education using phantom media and animated videos on the knowledge and toothbrushing skills of preschool children at TK Islam Nurul Huda Palaran. Methods: This quantitative study used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. Thirty-two preschool children were divided into a phantom media group (16 respondents) and an animated video media group (16 respondents) using purposive sampling. Data were collected using a knowledge questionnaire and a toothbrushing skills observation checklist, and analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results: Health education using phantom media was effective in improving knowledge (p=0.000) and toothbrushing skills (p=0.005). Health education using animated video media was also effective in improving knowledge (p=0.000) and toothbrushing skills (p=0.000). The Mann-Whitney U test showed significant differences in the improvement of knowledge (p=0.026) and skills (p=0.024) between the two groups; animated video media were superior for knowledge, while phantom media were superior for skills. Conclusion: Health education using both phantom media and animated videos was effective in improving preschool children's knowledge and toothbrushing skills, with animated video media more effective for increasing knowledge and phantom media more effective for improving skills.]]>
