Effect of Motivational Interviewing and Game Based Education on Oral Hygiene Behavior of Preschool Children in Beheira Governorate, Egypt

The participating children, in this randomized controlled clinical trial, were recruited from the governmental preschools available within Edko administration of Beheira governorate, Egypt. A cluster random sampling strategy was used so that the contributors, after fulfilling eligibility criteria, mother/child dyads (pairs) in each nursery were subsequently assigned to the first test group (motivational interviewing MI), the second test group (motivational interviewing MI+ gaming) or the control group (conventional dental health education CE). The children were randomly assigned to the three study groups in the allocation ratio 1:1:1 using random allocation software in blocks of five. The schools' randomization sequence were written on identical sheets of paper and folded inside opaque envelopes that were sealed to be open at the time of intervention implementation.

The three interventions were the conventional dental health education (CE) which were delivered through a 15-minute oral health session given to mothers of preschoolers in the control group whereas in the test groups Motivational Interviewing (MI) for mothers and Games for children were carried out via specific phases.