Background

Oral diseases are considered an important health challenge around the world, especially among children. This study aimed to compare the effects of mothers and students’ education on female students’ oral health behaviours.

Methods

This three-arm randomized controlled educational trial was conducted on 261 fifth- and sixth-grade female students. The participants were selected and divided into two intervention groups (students’ mothers and students) and a control group through simple random sampling. The intervention included four 60-min and two 90-min education sessions for the students and their mothers, respectively. The data were analysed using the SPSS 22 software.

Results

The results revealed a significant increase in the mean scores of knowledge (p < 0.001), self-efficacy (p = 0.038), and cues to action (p < 0.001) in the students’ intervention group. However, in the students-mothers’ group the mean score of knowledge significantly increased (p < 0.001), and perceived barriers significantly decreased (p = 0.001). After the intervention, a significant difference was observed among the three study groups regarding the mean scores of knowledge (p < 0.001), perceived susceptibility (p = 0.005), perceived severity (p = 0.005), perceived benefits (p = 0.011), cues to action (p < 0.001) and brushing and flossing behaviours (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

In this study, the mothers’ education did not have any additional effects on the students’ education. It seems that, in underprivileged communities where mothers had a low level of education, it might be better for oral health education to focus more on the students.