Research article the miswak (Salvadora persica) chewing stick: Muslim consumer behavior of halal oral hygiene product

One of the public health concerns that needs to be considered seriously is oral health. People starts to pay attention more to oral health since it does not only affect someone’s look and feeling but also affect the function of oral itself. There are various methods for maintaining oral hygiene. Miswak has long been chosen by Muslim to clean the oral cavity as proposed by Prophet Muhammad. Miswak is considered to be better than the usual toothbrushes as it is believed to be more beneficial that the common ones. Furthermore, the other consideration is because miswak is halal oral hygiene product considering from its religiosity side which has essential role in human life as it is the one which forms the human beliefs and attitudes in everything including choosing daily needs products. Miswak is proposed as an effective and affordable oral hygiene product. Therefore, the tradition of using miswak in Islam needs to be familiarized more among the current and future dental professionals and public health practitioners. In addition, there is an opportunity for industries practitioner in enhancing the halal oral hygiene product, such as toothbrushes, toothpastes, and mouthwashes which contains of miswak extracts.