Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 03, 2024)
Date Submitted: Mar 2, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Perceptions of orthodontic treatment on social media from the patient's perspective: a hashtag-based analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
Social media is key for patients exploring orthodontic treatments, focusing on outcomes, appliance types, and treatment details, highlighting the importance of accurate online information from professionals.
Objective:
This study aimed to analyze the social media content related to orthodontics and to identify patients' perspectives on orthodontic treatment through hashtag use
Methods:
The search was carried out on Instagram and X platforms using the hashtags #braces, #invisalign, #orthodontics, and #orthodontist. Data were collected over seven weeks with no languages and geographical locations restrictions. The qualitative approach focused on identifying thematic categories within the posts, while quantitative analysis involved the use of Pearson chi-square tests with Bonferroni-adjusted values, considering a significance level of p<0.05.
Results:
A total of 18,605 posts, with the majority (96.60% or 17,971 posts) found on Instagram, and 634 (3.40%) on X platforms. Among these posts, dentists or dental clinics, 3.86% by dental product companies, and 0.82% by patients made 89.52% during orthodontic treatment. Five main themes were identified in patient posts: "positive accounts of orthodontic treatment" (40.53%), "enthusiasm about starting treatment" (20.26%), "reports of anxiety due to orthodontic treatment" (19.60%), "complaints and limitations about treatment" (16.34%), and "neutral accounts of orthodontic treatment" (3.27%). Statistical analysis showed no significant differences between the content posted on the two platforms (p>0.05).
Conclusions:
A predominant presence of dentists was observed in social media discussions about orthodontics. Among patient-shared content, ‘positive experiences’ were the most frequently mentioned. The study found no significant discrepancies between the platforms regarding the nature of the posts.
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