Quality and reliability of web-based information regarding restorative treatment in pediatric patients

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to assess the quality and reliability of web-based information about restorative treatment in pediatric patients on the internet using different scales. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Websites obtained by using keywords about restorative treatment in pediatric patients on Google and Yandex were included in the study. The study was conducted in English on a total of 440 websites. Websites were evaluated using the quality criteria for consumer health information (DISCERN toolkit), Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and Health on the Net Code of Conduct Certification (HONCode). RESULTS: The mean DISCERN points of the websites were moderate. Among the evaluated websites, the quality of the knowledge in 20% of the websites was low. The rate of websites with a score below 40 was 37.5%. None of them has reached an excellent score. No websites met all JAMA criteria. There was no HONCode Certificate on any website. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the quality of the web-based information about restorative treatment in pediatric patients was generally inadequate and scientifically imperfect.