How much information regarding gingival enlargement can we get from TikTok and YouTube?

• Published in: Special care in dentistry 2024-07, Vol.44 (4), p.1115-1125
• Main Authors: Bengi, Vahdi Umut, Saraç Atagün, Özlem, Ceylan Şen, Seval, Özcan, Erkan, Paksoy, Tuğçe, Güler, Özlem Şebnem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Enlargement; Gingiva; gingival enlargement; Global Quality Score (GQS); Hyperplasia; Medical personnel; oral health; social media; Social networks; TikTok; YouTube
• ISSN: 0275-1879; 1754-4505; 1754-4505
• DOI: 10.1111/scd.12957

Aims This study aimed to evaluate and compare the reliability and quality of the information about gingival enlargements on YouTube and TikTok. Methods Two popular video sites, YouTube and TikTok, were searched for gingival enlargement and gingival hyperplasia. The reliability and quality of the first 300 videos for each search term, which is 1200 videos in total, were evaluated by social media video content evaluation tools: Global Quality Score (GQS) for quality and modified DISCERN for reliability. Results Health professionals uploaded 68.6% of the videos on YouTube and 54.5% on TikTok. It was observed that 50% of TikTok videos and 65.9% of YouTube videos were educational. In terms of quality, 2.7% of the videos on YouTube are of excellent quality, while in TikTok there are no videos of perfect quality. TikTok videos had considerably more views, likes, viewing rates, and interaction index scores than YouTube videos (P < 0.01). Conclusions The videos and pieces of information on YouTube are more reliable and accurate in terms of gingival enlargement when compared to TikTok. Nevertheless, it was discovered that videos on both platforms were of poor reliability and quality in general.