How I whiten my teeth: YouTube™ as a patient information resource for teeth whitening

Background YouTube (TM) is the world's second most popular website after Google on the Internet. The aim of this study was to assess the quality and content of information YouTube (TM) videos for patients seeking information about teeth whitening. Methods The keyword 'teeth whitening' was searched on YouTube (TM). YouTube (TM) was filtered by the relevance, and the first 100 videos that met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. The included videos were analyzed for views, duration, time since video upload, likes/dislikes, number of comments, source, material types (dental, natural, and other). Also, video purpose was analyzed under nine categories (definition, material preparation, the procedure of application, material comparison, before/after comparison, symptoms, post-op experience, commercial, educational). Each video was classified according to the quality of information content as 'good', 'moderate', or 'poor'. The Kruskal-Wallis test, Fischer's Exact test and Spearman correlation analyses were performed. Results Most videos were uploaded by laypersons (60.0%). The definition of teeth whitening was the most commonly covered topic (74.0%), followed by the procedure of application (54.0%), and post-op experience (36.0%). Only 12% of videos were classified as having good information quality content, 53% moderate, and 35% were rated as poor information content. Poor-information content videos had a significantly higher number of viewing rates than the other groups (P = 0.002), besides the duration was significantly higher in poor-information content videos (P =0.002). There was a significant relationship between the quality of video information and material types (P <0.001). Conclusions YouTube (TM) should not be used as a thoroughly reliable and accurate source for patient information about teeth whitening. More informative and reliable content YouTube (TM) videos about teeth whitening should be uploaded by professionals.