Analysis of Quality, Usefulness, Reliability, Visibility, and Popularity of Videos about Dental Caries on YouTube: A Cross-sectional Analysis

OBJECTIVES: YouTube is the most popular social media and is widely used to access dental and oral diseases information. Nonetheless, the quality of online health information remains a problem. This study aimed to analyze the quality, usefulness, reliability, visibility, and popularity of YouTube videos about dental caries as a source of information. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study design was a cross-sectional analytical study. Here, 300 videos that were uploaded in September 2019–2020 were screened, and total duration, number of views, number of likes, number dislikes, uploader category (individual users or health professionals), and upload date of the videos were recorded. One hundred videos were analyzed in terms of their quality, usefulness, reliability, visibility, and popularity using the Global Quality Scale, usefulness score, DISCERN, viewing rate, and interaction index, respectively. RESULTS: Videos were 78% uploaded by individual users. Videos uploaded by health professionals showed high scores in quality, usefulness, and reliability. Videos that were greater than 6 min long exhibited both better quality and higher popularity. Video with good-quality showed high visibility and popularity. In addition, videos with better usefulness and reliability showed high visibility; however, their popularity was low. CONCLUSIONS: Information about dental caries on YouTube is limited in quality. YouTube videos have a potentially important role in oral health education.