A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention for Reducing the Dental Plaque Index of 3-6 Years Old Children

Aims: Dental caries in preschool children continues to be an important health problem in most countries. This study aimed to determine the effect of education to mothers based on the health belief model on decreasing the dental plaque index of 3 -6 years old children. Materials Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 88 mothers and their 3 -6 years old children (NTotal=176) referred to the Health Care Center No. 1 in Ilam in 2015. Participants were randomly selected using a random number and randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups on a 1:1 ratio basis. A three-part questionnaire was used. Three training sessions were given to the intervention group; each lasted for one hour once a week. At one-month follow-up, the post-test questionnaires were administered to both groups. A trained dentist assessed the oral health status of children using O’Leary plaque index with a dental mirror and a probe in broad daylight. SPSS 26 was used for data analysis, and the chisquare and T-test were applied to compare the data. Findings The mean ages of mothers and their children were 31.28±5.63 years and 4.5±1.56 years, respectively. Despite the similarity of groups at the beginning of the study (p 0.05), significant differences were found between groups in follow-up (p≤0.001) and between before intervention and follow-up in the intervention group (p≤0.001) in all health belief model constructs, oral health practice, and the plaque index. Conclusion Providing mothers with oral health education for their children can promote their beliefs and behavior relating to brushing their children’s teeth, and decreasing the plaque index.