YouTube as a patient-information source for root canal treatment

International Endodontic Journal

Accepted Article (Accepted, unedited articles published online and citable. The final edited and typeset version of record will appear in future.)

 

Abstract

Aim

To assess the content and completeness of Youtube^™ as an information source for patients undergoing root canal treatment procedures.

Methodology

YouTube^™ (https://www.youtube.com/) was searched for information using three relevant treatment search-terms (‘endodontics’, ‘root canal’, ‘root canal treatment’). After exclusions (language, no audio, >15mins, duplicates), 20 videos per search-term were selected. General video assessment included duration, ownership, views, age, likes/dislikes, target-audience and video/audio quality, while content was analyzed under 6 categories (‘aetiology’, ‘anatomy’, ‘symptoms’, ‘procedure’, ‘postoperative course’, ‘prognosis’). Content was scored for completeness-level and statistically analyzed using ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test (p<0 .05="" p="">

Results

To obtain 60 acceptable videos, 124 were assessed. Depending on the search-term employed the video content and ownership differed markedly. There was wide variation in both the number of video views and ‘likes/dislikes’. The average video age was 788 days. In total 46% of videos were ‘posted’ by a dentist/specialist source; however, this was search-term specific rising to 70% of uploads for the search ‘endodontic’, while laypersons contributed 18% of uploads for the search ‘root canal treatment’. Every video lacked content in the designated 6 categories, although ‘procedure’ details were covered more frequently and in better detail than other categories. Videos posted by dental professional (p=0.046) and commercial sources (p=0.009) were significantly more complete than videos posted by laypeople.

Conclusions

YouTube^™ videos for endodontic search-terms varied significantly by source and content and were generally incomplete. The danger of patient reliance on YouTube^™ is highlighted, as is the need for endodontic professionals to play an active role in directing patients towards alternative high-quality information sources.