Study of Effects of Drawing and Picture-Based Dental Care Education on Awareness of Five to Six-Year-Old Children in Ardabil Province Kindergartens

th , 2012; revised September 10 th , 2012; accepted September 22 nd , 2012 Background and Objective: Dental and oral health education is an effective method in preventing dental caries. The objective of the current study was to assess the effects of drawing and picture-based dental and oral health education on awareness of five to six-year-old children in Ardabil province kindergartens. Methodology: Four hundred 5 to 6-year-old children were randomly selected from rural and urban kin- dergartens. First, a picture questionnaire was filled out by them as the pre-test. Then, before the main test, all children were educated by their trainers using pre-prepared booklet which had been designed as pic- tures and/or drawing. The education lasted for three months. Also, the parents pursued the training at home. One month after the education, the questionnaire was re-filled out as the post-test. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS. Findings: The mean post-test marks was significantly better than the pre-test marks regarding toothbrush and toothpaste, floss, sugar eating and bad habits. Conclusion: The results showed the importance of drawing and picture-based education by trainers in kindergartens and the pur- suance of these activities by parents at home. It can be selected as an effective education method in kin- dergartens.