Perubahan Potential of Hydrogen (pH) Saliva Sebelum dan Sesudah Berkumur Air Rebusan Jahe Merah (Z. Officinale Var Rubrum) Pada Mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran Gigi Universitas Syiah Kuala Angkatan 2016

The potential of Hydrogen (pH) is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration of the solution which shows whether the solution is acidic, alkaline or neutral. Factors that affect the pH of saliva are chemical and mechanical stimuli. One of the herbal ingredients that are known to increase the pH of saliva was red ginger. Red ginger (Z. officinale var rubrum)  in the form of the decoction is one example of herbal beverages. The purpose of the study is to examine changes in the pH of saliva of students of the Faculty of Dentistry, Class of 2016, University of Syiah Kuala, before and after rinsing with red ginger (Z. officinale var rubrum) decoction. The population in this study was students of the Faculty of Dentistry, Class of 2016, University of Syiah Kuala. Subjects included in the inclusion criteria were 37 people. The study used experimental laboratory research with an analytic experimental design with pre-test and post-test. Data were analyzed by using T-Test. The result showed that the red ginger (Z. officinale var rubrum) decoction could increase the pH of saliva p 0.05. Differences between the pH of saliva before and after rinsing with red ginger decoction and the pH of saliva before and after rinsing with mineral water were also significant. Based on these results it can be concluded that the red ginger (Z. officinale var rubrum) decoction can increase the pH of saliva. Keywords : Water of boiled red ginger (Z. officinale var rubrum), The pH of saliva.