Objective: To compare the oral hygiene of preschool children and frequency of oral care after their mothers received different training methods.

Material and Method: This quasi-experimental study comprised of 2 groups of children from child care centers. For 64 samples in control group, dental personnel trained the mothers in one large group. For 80 samples in intervention group, dental personnel trained care givers. Then care givers trained the mothers in small groups of 5-15 using interactive workshops and sharing experience techniques. Data were collected before and three months after intervention by examining the dental plaque of the child and interviewing the child’s mother with a structured questionnaire.

Results: Sixty mothers in the control and 77 mothers in the intervention group were not different in terms of age, occupation and education level. After the intervention the frequency of daily brushing by mothers increased significantly (p<0.001), in addition plaque accumulation decreased significantly from 2.5±0.3 to 1.8±0.3. However, there was no difference between the two groups.

Conclusion: These two training methods could significantly increase the frequency of brushing by mothers and oral cleanliness of preschool children, but there was no difference between the two groups.