Evaluation of Quality and Readability of Online Information on Treatments of Traumatic Dental Injuries

OpenAlex English

Background: Traumatic dental injuries is a common public health issue all over the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality and readability of web based information regarding treatments of traumatic dental injuries. Methods: An internet search was carried out using Google search engine with four different keywords (''treatment of broken teeth'', ''treatment of tooth trauma'', ''treatment of anterior tooth fractures in children'', ''fractured teeth treatments'') related to treatments of traumatic dental injuries. The duplicate websites, links to research studies, advertisements, discussion groups, videos and images were excluded from the evaluation. The quality of the written information regarding treatments of traumatic dental injuries in websites were analyzed with DISCERN toolkit. The readability of the written information was evaluated with Flesch-Kincaid grade level (FKGL), Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease (FKRE) and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook reading grade level (SMOG) index. Results: A total of 120 webpages were identified but only 42 of them were remained after exclusion criterias. Among these websites, 25 (59.5%) of them were belonged to private dental clinics, 9 (21.4%) of them were belonged to informative pages about health and dentistry and 8 (19.1%) of them were belonged to professional organizations' websites. The average DISCERN score was 42.4 and ranged between 24 to 62. The average FKRE was 50.7 ± 14. which is equivalent to a reading level of 10th to 12nd grade. The average FKGL score for was 8.5 ± 2.8 and the average SMOG score was 7.3 ± 2.0 for all the websites. Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that the quality of information on the investigated websites was fair according to the DISCERN toolkit and too difficult to read and interpret for the general population. Healthcare information providers should focus on improving the quality and readability of the information regarding treatment of traumatic dental injuries.