German dentists’ websites on periodontitis have low quality of information

Abstract

BackgroundThe internet is an increasingly relevant source of health information. We aimed to assess the quality of German dentists’ websites on periodontitis, hypothesizing that it was significantly associated with a number of practice-specific parameters.MethodsWe searched four electronic search engines and included pages which were freely accessible, posted by a dental practice in Germany, and mentioned periodontal disease/therapy. Websites were assessed for (1) technical and functional aspects, (2) generic quality and risk of bias, (3) disease-specific information. For 1 and 2, validated tools (LIDA/DISCERN) were used for assessment. For 3, we developed a criterion catalogue encompassing items on etiologic and prognostic factors for periodontitis, the diagnostic and treatment process, and the generic chance of tooth retention in periodontitis patients. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were largely moderate. Generalized linear modeling was used to assess the association between the information quality (measured as % of maximally available scores) and practice-specific characteristics.ResultsSeventy-one websites were included. Technical and functional aspects were reported in significantly higher quality (median: 71%, 25/75th percentiles: 67/79%) than all other aspects (p < 0.05). Generic risk of bias and most disease-specific aspects showed significantly lower reporting quality (median range was 0–40%), with poorest reporting for prognostic factors (9;0/27%), diagnostic process (0;0/33%) and chances of tooth retention (0;0/2%). We found none of the practice-specific parameters to have significant impact on the overall quality of the websites.ConclusionsMost German dentists’ websites on periodontitis are not fully trustworthy and relevant information are not or insufficiently considered. There is great need to improve the information quality from such websites at least with regards to periodontitis.

Evaluation of information quality on the internet for periodontal disease patients

“…In another study, Schwendicke et al. (2017) assessed the quality of German dentists’ web sites on periodontitis using Minervation validation instrument for healthcare web sites (the LIDA instrument) and DISCERN toolkit. It was found that most of the German dentists’ web sites on periodontitis were not fully trustworthy and in need of improving the quality of information.…”

“…In the last decade, it has become quite common for many individuals to make a search on the Internet for a dental health professional when choosing a clinic or a dentist. The information provided on dentists’ web sites may reflect the chairside information given by those dentists, and this also comprises the etiology, prevention, therapy, and maintenance of periodontitis (Schwendicke, Stange, Stange, & Graetz, 2017). However, poor quality online information can confuse patients and may be responsible for mistrust to dental professionals.…”

The informative value and design of orthodontic practice websites in The Netherlands

“…Bearing in mind that 25% of the population in The Netherlands has inadequate health literacy, the potential implications of the readability results on processing online health information might be even more severe [23]. Hypothetically, high website quality might be expected by centrally located practices or the ones financially managed by multiple owners [14]. Websites of practices located in multiple provinces were assigned significantly higher BDC scores than the rest, indicating superior website optimization.…”

“…Due to the widespread acceptance of orthodontics by the general Dutch population and shortage of practicing orthodontists, especially in non-metropolitan areas, 27-40% of the orthodontic caseload is being served by dentists [12,13]. Given practice-specific parameters like location (i.e., urban vs. rural areas), ownership status (i.e., multi-owner vs. single-owner practice), and professional title (i.e., dentists vs. orthodontists) may have a certain impact on the website's quality [14], it would be interesting to investigate the informational content of the websites of the practices of orthodontic treatment providers in The Netherlands. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine the compliance of Dutch orthodontic practices to EU regulations (CED), readability of the posted orthodontic information, website design, and possible relationship of the aforementioned website features with practice location and professional qualification of practitioners.…”

Dentists’ practice patterns of treatment for deep occlusal caries: Findings from a dental practice-based research network

“…Another previous study revealed that 87% of UK dentists reported having changed their practice as a result of reading a research article [34]. Further, it has been pointed out that most German dentists' websites are not fully accurate with regard to periodontitis [35] and that the problem with textbooks as a source of evidence is that the information may be substantially out of date at the time of publication [36]. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that frequent use of evidence-based information in Englishlanguage scientific articles may help improve Japanese dentists' decision making about IPC.…”